Chapters 

Jrom 

Illinois  History 

Edwa  rd  G.  Ma  son 


IUWMMJUiJ»ll»<lllimM 


8PRECKELS 


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Chapters  from  Illinois  History 


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Chapters 


FROM 


Illinois  History 


BY 


EDWARD    G.  MASON 


HERBERT   S.  STONE   AND   COMPANY 

ELDRIDGE  COURT,  CHICAGO 

MDCCCCI 


COPYRIGHT,     190  I,    BY 
HERBERT    S.    STONE    &    CO. 


8PRECKELS 


CONTENTS 


PAOK 


The  Land  of  the  Illinois. 

I.     Discovery     . i 

II      Exploration 40 

III.  Occupation 94 

IV.  Settlement 138 

Notes    .         .......  192 

Illinois  in  the  Eighteenth  Century. 

I.     Old  Fort  Chartres 212 

II.     Col.  John  Todd's  Record  Book        .         .  250 

Illinois  in  the  Revolution     .....  280 

The  March  of  the  Spaniards  Across  Illinois  293 

Notes        .        .         .         .         .         .         .  312 

The  Chicago  Massacre 313 


101961 


PREFACE 

The  papers  composing  this  volume  are  published  prac- 
tically just  as  they  were  left  by  the  author,  "The  Land 
of  the  Illinois"  was  written  in  1896,  and  has  never  been 
printed  before.  "Illinois  in  the  Eighteenth  Century"  is 
composed  of  two  papers  read  before  the  Chicago  His- 
torical Society  in  1880  and  1881,  and  published  by  the 
Fergus  Printing  Company  in  1881 ;  "Illinois  in  the  Revo- 
lution" was  written  probably  in  1896;  "The  March  of 
the  Spaniards  across  Illinois"  was  published  in  substance 
in  the  Magazine  of  American  History  for  May,  1886; 
"The  Chicago  Massacre"  was  delivered  in  substance  as 
an  address  at  the  unveiling  of  a  bronze  memorial  group 
in  Chicago  on  June  22,  1893. 

The  author  had  planned  to  write  a  complete  history  of 
Illinois,  and  had  it  been  possible  for  him  to  carry  out  his 
intention  the  contents  of  this  volume  would  have  formed 
a  considerable  part  of  the  history. 


Chapters  from  Illinois  History 


chapters  from   Illinois   History 

THE   LAND   OF   THE   ILLINOIS 

I.     Discovery 

Upon  the  curious  map  of  New  France  published  by 
Samuel  de  Champlain  in  1632  is  shown,  beyond  Lac  Mer 
Douce,  which  we  call  Lake  Huron,  the  home  of  a  people 
whom  he  describes  as  "a  nation  where  there  is  a  quan- 
tity of  buffalo. ' '  ^  Champlain,  the  ' '  Father  of  Canada, ' ' 
and  the  first  to  carry  the  flag  of  France  into  the  heart  of 
North  America,  reached  Lake  Huron  in  161 5.  This  was 
the  western  limit  of  his  explorations,  but  he  gathered 
from  the  natives  in  that  region  information  concerning 
what  lay  beyond,  which  he  included  in  this  map,  the 
earliest  known  delineation  of  the  country  of  the  Great 
Lakes.  ^  It  takes  strange  liberties  with  their  topography, 
even  to  ignoring  Lake  Erie,  confining  Lake  Michigan  to 
Green  Bay,  and  transferring  it  and  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin 
waterway  to  the  north  of  Lake  Superior.  But  there 
appear  upon  it  indications  which  justify  the  belief  that 
the  far  away  people  of  whom  Champlain  heard  as  he 
coasted  the  shore  of  the  Georgian  Bay,  were  the  tribe 
later  known  as  the  Illinois,  and  that  the  coimtry  in  which 
they  dwelt  where  the  buffalo  abounded  was  the  prairie 
land  upon  which  their  name  is  fixed  forevermore.' 


a         CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

Such  being  the  case,  this  brief  mention  is  the  earliest 
notice  in  history  of  the  Illinois  Indians,  and  Champlain, 
though  he  never  visited  their  domain,  brought  them  to 
the  knowledge  of  Europe  and  became  in  some  sense  their 
discoverer.  Five  years  before  the  Pilgrims  landed  at 
Plymouth,  this  splendid  sailor,  soldier  and  explorer 
reached  a  point  in  the  interior  of  the  North  American 
continent  a  thousand  miles  from  the  Gulf  of  St.  Law- 
rence; and  ever  desiring,  as  he  said,  "to  see  the  Lily 
flourish  and  also  the  only  religion,  Catholic,  Apostolic  and 
Roman,"  *  longed  to  press  onward  to  win  new  conquests 
for  France  and  the  Church.  He  lamented  that  the 
natives  by  the  great  lake,  Mer  Douce,  were  at  war  with 
the  more  distant  nations,  fuller  knowledge  of  whom  he 
was  thus  prevented  from  obtaining.^  Reluctantly  he  left 
this  field  to  men  of  sufficient  means,  leisure  and  energy 
to  undertake  the  enterprise.'  Heroic  energy  he  did  not 
lack,  but  time  and  opportunity  were  not  granted  to  him. 
Yet  he  pointed  out  the  way  which  those  followed  who 
reached  the  goal  of  which  he  dreamed.  He  was  the  fore- 
runner of  the  discovery  of  the  land  of  the  Illinois,  and  at 
the  very  beginning  of  its  history  we  see  Champlain  in 
his  canoe  on  the  Georgian  Bay,  gazing  westward. 

To  Champlain  is  doubtless  directly  due  the  first  visit  of 
one  of  his  race  to  the  region  west  of  Lake  Michigan.  As 
Governor  of  New  France,  he  appears  to  have  sent  his 
interpreter,  Jean  Nicolet,  in  1634,  to  make  peace  between 
the  Winnebagoes  of  Green  Bay  and  the  Hurons  of  the 
lake  now  known  by  their  name.^  In  the  year  of  his 
appointment,  or  possibly  not  until  1638,*  Nicolet  arrived 
in  the  regpion  comprised  in  the  present  State  of  Wiscon- 
sin, and  so  was  the  foremost  of  white  men  to  set  foot 
upon  its  soil.     From  this  adventurous  journey  he  seems 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  3 

to  have  brought  some  tidings  of  the  Illinois  Indians,  since 
the  Reverend  Father  Vimont,  writing  from  Canada  to 
France  in  1640,  speaks  of  the  nations  whose  names  were 
given  him  by  the  Sieur  Nicolet  who  had  visited  most  of 
them  in  their  own  country,  and  among  those  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Winnebagoes  he  mentions  the  Erin- 
iouaj,*  who  seemingly  were  the  Illinois.  It  has  been 
ingeniously  argued  that  Nicolet  visited  the  Illinois  in 
their  villages  on  the  prairies,"  but  there  is  no  evidence 
sufficient  to  establish  this  proposition.  And  we  can  only 
be  certain  that  he,  who  in  his  time  worthily  bore  the 
reputation  of  having  penetrated  farthest  into  those  remote 
countries,  was  the  next  after  Champlain  to  give  to  the 
expectant  priests  and  traders  in  the  little  settlement  on 
the  rock  of  Quebec  news  of  the  distant  people  who  lived 
in  the  land  of  the  buffalo. 

Of  this  people  and  their  land  we  next  hear  in  the  rela- 
tion of  that  which  took  place  in  the  mission  of  the  Fa- 
thers of  the  Company  of  Jesus  in  the  country  of  New 
France,  in  the  years  1655  and  1656,  sent  to  the  Reverend 
Father  Louis  Cellot,  the  Provincial  Superior  of  the  Jes- 
uits at  Paris.  The  writer,  enlivening  his  pages  with  an 
occasional  classic  allusion,  tells  of  two  young  Frenchmen 
who  in  company  with  some  savages  set  forth  from  Que- 
bec August  6,  1654,  and  made  a  voyage  of  more  than  five 
hundred  leagues,  borne,  as  he  picturesquely  says,  not  in 
great  galleons  or  splendid  galleys,  but  in  little  gondolas 
of  bark.  They  returned  to  civilization  in  August,  1656, 
with  a  fleet  of  fifty  canoes  laden  with  Indian  merchan- 
dise, and  were  received  with  a  grand  salute  of  cannon 
from  Fort  St.  Louis."  By  these  pilgrims  and  their 
dusky  hosts,  the  Jesuits  were  told  of  the  different  nations 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Nation  of  the  Sea,  meaning 


4  CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

the  Winnebagoes  of  Green  Bay,  and  among  them  of  the 
Linouck,  a  people  comprising  about  sixty  villages.'*  These 
undoubtedly  were  the  Illinois,  and  this  has  been  called  the 
first  mention  of  the  tribe  in  history, ^^  but,  as  we  have  seen, 
it  is  later  in  point  of  time  than  the  references  made  by 
Champlain  and  Nicolet.  It  is,  however,  the  earliest  men- 
tion of  their  numbers,  and  these  exceeded  those  assigned 
to  any  of  the  neighboring  nations.  It  is  not  probable 
that  either  of  these  young  Frenchmen  in  fact  reached  the 
land  of  the  Illinois,  as  their  report  was  apparently  based 
on  hearsay  rather  than  on  personal  observation.  And  we 
may  be  sure  that  an  actual  visit  to  that  region  would  have 
been  fully  chronicled  by  the  Jesuits.  In  their  Relation  of 
1658,  perhaps  referring  to  the  news  brought  by  this 
expedition  or  possibly  to  still  later  information,  it  is 
stated  that  among  the  nations  recently  discovered  is  the 
Aliniouck  (another  version  of  the  name  Illinois),  which  is 
very  numerous,  Including  quite  twenty  thousand  war- 
riors, and  sixty  villages  comprising  about  one  hundred 
thousand  souls.  And  this  nation  is  said  to  be  located 
seven  days'  journey  from  St.  Michel,  a  village  of  the 
Pottawattamies  of  Green  Bay,  and  to  the  westward." 

Again,  in  the  1660  Relation,  we  are  told  of  two  French- 
men who  had  arrived  at  Quebec  with  three  hundred 
Algonquins  in  sixty  canoes  loaded  with  peltry.  They 
had  wintered  on  the  borders  of  Lake  Superior,  and  sixty 
days'  journey  to  the  southwest  of  it,  had  reached  a  band 
of  Hurons  who  had  been  driven  from  their  own  country 
by  the  Iroquois.  These  fugitives  had  penetrated  the 
unknown  forests  and  happily  came  upon  a  beautiful  river, 
grand,  large,  deep  and  comparable  to  the  great  river  St. 
Lawrence,  and  upon  its  banks  they  had  found  the  great 
Aliniouck  nation,  once  more  described  as  composed  of 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  5 

sixty  villages,  which  received  them  very  kindly.'^  The 
names  of  these  Frenchmen  do  not  appear  in  the  record, 
and  this,  which  is  in  reality  the  earliest  published  mention 
of  a  visit  to  the  upper  Mississippi,  passed  almost  unno- 
ticed until  very  recent  times."  But  we  know  now  that 
this  pair  of  explorers  were  the  dauntless  voyageurs  Pierre 
Esprit  Radisson  and  his  brother-in-law,  Medard  Chouart, 
Sieur  des  Groseilliers,  whose  travels  and  experiences 
among  the  North  American  Indians  between  the  years 
1652  and  1684  were  of  surpassing  interest.  Radisson's 
own  account  of  these  remarkable  journeys,  after  remain- 
ing in  manuscript  more  than  two  hundred  years,  has  but 
recently  been  published."  From  this  it  is  plain  that  he 
was  the  first  of  white  men  to  reach  the  northern  portion 
of  the  great  river  of  the  West,  which  he  saw  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1659;"  and  the  first  to  announce  that  among  the 
dwellers  by  its  waters  was  the  tribe  of  the  Illinois, 

Such  tidings,  and  perhaps  those  brought  by  other 
explorers  and  traders  whose  names  and  adventures  have 
not  been  chronicled,  turned  the  thoughts  of  the  authori- 
ties of  Canada  more  and  more  towards  the  Mississippi 
and  the  land  of  the  Illinois  as  associated  with  it.  And  the 
movements  of  this  tribe  soon  began  to  be  of  such  a  nature 
as  to  bring  them  more  prominently  to  the  attention  of  the 
French.  The  wars  in  which  the  Illinois  became  engaged 
with  the  Sioux  on  the  one  hand  and  the  Iroquois  on  the 
other  reduced  their  numbers  and  scattered  them  widely. 
They  began  to  appear  in  roving  bands  at  the  Mission  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  established  in  1665  on  Lake  Superior  and 
at  that  of  Saint  Frangois  Xavier  at  Green  Bay,  founded 
four  years  later."  Among  those  who  came  to  the  former 
place  was  organized  the  Mission  of  the  Aliniouek  or  Illi- 
nouek.     The  priest  in  charge  of  it  writes  a  most  interest- 


6        CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

ing  description  of  the  Illinois  Indians  of  that  day.  He 
praises  them  as  affable  and  humane,  and  says,  that  when 
they  meet  a  stranger  they  utter  a  cry  of  joy,  caress  him 
and  give  him  every  proof  of  friendship.  He  describes 
their  country,  from  information  given  by  them,  as  genial 
in  climate,  producing  two  crops  of  Indian  corn  a  year, 
with  no  forests  there  at  all,  but  a  wealth  of  grand  prairies 
where  the  buffalo,  deer,  bear  and  other  animals  pass  to 
and  fro  in  great  numbers.^  The  readiness  of  the  Illinois 
to  receive  instruction  and  their  desire  that  missionaries 
should  visit  them  in  their  own  attractive  land,  interested 
the  Church  in  the  plan  which  the  State  was  forming  for 
an  expedition  to  the  West.** 

Jean  Talon,  Intendant  of  Canada  from  1665  to  1668, 
and  again  from  1670  to  1672,  was  the  master  spirit  of  its 
government  during  his  brief  five  years  of  service.  He 
«aw  again  the  vision  of  Champlain  of  the  occupation  of 
the  great  West  by  France,  and  bent  all  his  energies  to  its 
realization.  In  1670  he  sent  a  party  to  proclaim  the  royal 
authority  throughout  the  whole  region  of  the  interior, 
under  the  leadership  of  Simon  Frangois  Daumont,  Sieur 
de-  St.  Lusson.  Messages  to  as  many  of  the  natives  as 
possible  appointed  a  meeting  at  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie, 
and  when  representatives  of  fourteen  tribes  had  assem- 
bled there,  St.  Lusson  carried  out  his  instructions.  On 
the  14th  of  June,  167 1,  in  the  presence  of  the  throng  of 
savages,  and  of  four  Reverend  Fathers  of  the  Company 
of  Jesus,  and  of  his  little  band  of  fifteen  Frenchmen,  he 
caused  his  commission  to  be  read  aloud,  and  to  be  trans- 
lated into  the  Indian  tongue  by  his  interpreter  Nicolas 
Perrot.  A  cross  of  wood  was  reared,  and  near  it  was 
placed  a  cedar  post  bearing  the  arms  of  France.  St. 
Lusson  three  times  in  a  loud  voice  made  proclamation  in 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  7 

the  name  of  the  Most  High,  Most  Powerful  and  Most 
Redoubted  Monarch,  Louis,  fourteenth  of  that  name. 
Most  Christian  King  of  France  and  Navarre,  that  he  took 
possession  of  Ste.  Marie  du  Sault,  as  well  as  of  Lakes 
Huron  and  Superior,  the  Island  of  Manatoulin,  and  all 
the  other  lands,  streams,  lakes  and  rivers  contigfuous  and 
adjacent,  both  those  discovered  and  those  to  be  discov- 
ered, bounded  on  the  one  side  by  the  Seas  of  the  North 
and  the  West,  and  on  the  other  by  the  South  Sea,  as  to 
all  their  length  and  breadth.  At  each  proclamation  he 
raised  a  sod  of  earth  in  his  hand  and  cried,  "Vive  le 
Roi, ' '  and  made  the  whole  assembly,  French  and  savage 
alike,  join  in  the  cry.*^ 

The  Procfes  Verbal  of  this  ceremony  recites  St.  Lus- 
son's  orders  to  journey  to  the  country  of  the  savages, 
Outaouacs,  Nez-Perces,  Illinois,  and  other  nations  dis- 
covered and  to  be  discovered  in  North  America  in  the 
region  of  Lake  Superior  or  Mer  Douce  (Huron).  In 
enumerating  the  tribes  which  responded  to  his  summons 
he  mentions  the  Poulteattemies  (Pottawattamies)  and 
others  dwelling  upon  what  was  called  the  Bay  of  the 
Puants,  which  we  know  as  Green  Bay.  And  it  expressly 
states  that  these  Indians  took  it  upon  themselves  to  make 
the  matter  known  to  their  neighbors,  the  Illinois,  and 
other  nations.*'  It  is  apparent,  therefore,  that  the  Illinois 
were  at  this  period  included,  as  to  their  place  of  abode, 
among  the  undiscovered  people,  or  those  to  whom  the 
news  of  this  important  event  was  to  be  communicated  by 
the  neighboring  tribes,  and  that  their  country,  so  far  as 
known  to  any  in  that  assemblage,  comprising  officers  of 
the  crown,  priests,  traders  and  representatives  of  many 
Indian  tribes,  was  still  unvisited  by  the  French. 

The  time,  however,  was  approaching  when  the  secret 


8        CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

of  the  prairies  was  to  be  revealed ;  and  their  discoverer 
was  one  of  those  who  gathered  around  St.  Lusson's 
banner  at  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie. ^*  St.  Lusson  returned  to 
Quebec  late  in  the  following  year  to  report  the  success- 
ful accomplishment  of  his  undertaking  to  Talon.  The 
Intendant's  busy  brain  was  already  planning  a  more 
important  step,  and  he  next  resolved  to  find  the  great 
river  Mississippi,  and  to  explore  the  regions  adjacent 
thereto.  In  1672  he  selected  for  the  leader  in  this  enter- 
prise the  young  Canadian,  Louis  Jolliet,**  who  was  one  of 
the  witnesses  of  St.  Lusson's  imposing  ceremony  at  the 
Sault. 

Louis  Jolliet  was  the  second  son  of  Jean  Jolliet,  a 
native  of  the  town  of  Sezanne  in  France,**  who  emigrated 
to  Canada  before  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
and  was  the  first  of  the  name  in  that  country.  He  was 
a  wagon-maker  by  occupation,  and  was  employed  by  the 
Company  of  the  Hundred  Associates,  for  many  years  the 
proprietors  of  Canada."  On  October  9,  1639,  Jean  Jolliet 
and  Marie  d'Abancour  were  married  in  the  parish  of 
Notre  Dame  de  Quebec,  and  among  those  present  at  the 
wedding  was  the  famous  Jean  Nicolet,  not  long  returned 
from  his  exploration  of  the  Wisconsin  region. 

Louis  Jolliet  was  born  at  Quebec  in  1645,  and  baptized 
September  21st  of  that  year,  as  appears  from  the  records 
of  the  parish  of  Notre  Dame  de  Quebec  for  the  period, 
which  are  still  preserved.  When  very  young  he  resolved 
to  be  a  priest,  and  was  educated  for  that  office  at  the  Jes- 
uit College  of  Quebec,  where  he  was  a  classmate  of  the 
first  native  Canadian  advanced  to  the  priesthood.  Jolliet 
received  the  tonsure  and  the  minor  orders  at  the  age  of 
seventeen,  and  became  an  assistant  in  the  college.  At 
the  age  of  twenty -one  he  bore  a  prominent  part  in  a  pub- 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  9 

lie  discussion  in  philosophy,  which  was  attended  by  all 
the  dignitaries  of  the  colony.  The  Intendant  Talon  him- 
self joined  in  the  argument  on  this  occasion,  and  may 
there  first  have  seen  the  youthful  Jolliet  whom  six  years 
later  he  was  to  designate  for  an  undertaking  which 
brought  renown  to  both  their  names.  In  1667  Jolliet  is 
spoken  of  as  clerk  of  the  church  at  Quebec,  but  soon 
after  his  arrival  at  manhood  he  left  the  ecclesiastical  serv- 
ice and  became  a  fur  trader  and  explorer,^*  His  elder 
brother  Adrien  was  engaged  in  the  same  pursuits,  as 
appears  from  an  interesting  document,  which  lately  came 
to  light,  executed  by  him  and  eight  associates  at  his  place 
of  residence.  Cap  de  la  Magdeleine,  on  the  St.  Maurice 
River.  It  is  a  joint  agreement  for  a  trading  voyage 
to  the  Ottawas,  the  term  then  applied  to  the  western 
Indians  in  general,  dated  April  20,  1666,  and  contemplat- 
ing an  immediate  departure  for  the  wilderness.*'  Louis 
Jolliet  followed  his  brother's  example,  and  soon  obtained 
a  reputation  for  courage  and  skill  in  exploration.  It  is 
said  that  he  made  a  visit  to  France  in  1667,  returning  the 
following  year. 

.  Talon,  before  leaving  for  Paris,  in  1668,  employed  Jolliet 
and  a  comrade  named  F6t6,  at  a  handsome  remunera- 
tion, to  discover  a  copper  mine  believed  to  be  on  Lake 
Superior,  and  to  find  a  better  route  than  those  then  in  use, 
for  the  transportation  of  the  mineral  to  the  settlements. 
They  set  forth  from  Montreal  early  in  1669,  with  four 
canoes  laden  with  merchandise  to  trade  with  the  natives 
by  the  way,  and  arrived  at  the  home  of  one  of  the  west- 
ern tribes,  but  lack  of  time  prevented  their  reaching  the 
mine  from  which  the  natives  brought  specimens  of  very 
rich  ore.  In  his  other  purpose  Jolliet  was  more  success- 
ful,   and  on   his   return    journey  added    to   geography 


10      CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

another  of  the  Great  Lakes,  and  a  new  waterway  to  the 
West.  He  found  some  Iroquois  captives  among  these 
savages,  whom  he  commanded,  upon  the  authority  of  the 
Governor  of  Canada,  to  make  peace  with  the  Five 
Nations,  and  persuaded  them  to  release  a  captive  that  he 
might  carry  the  news  of  their  pacific  purpose  to  his  peo- 
ple. The  grateful  messenger  rendered  a  most  important 
service  in  return,  and  showed  Jolliet  the  route,  till  then 
unknown  to  the  French,  by  Lakes  Ste.  Claire  ^  and  Erie. 
He  was  the  first  of  white  men  to  navigate  these  waters 
and  stands  in  history  as  their  discoverer.  Passing 
through  the  Strait  of  Detroit  he  coasted  the  northern 
shore  of  the  lonely  Lake  Erie,  until  his  guide,  fearing 
they  might  be  waylaid  by  a  war  party  of  the  Andastes  if 
they  attempted  the  Niagara  portage,  diverged  by  way  of 
Grand  River  towards  the  head  of  Lake  Ontario."  But 
Jolliet  learned  that  it  was  easy  to  go  directly  to  that  lake 
by  water  with  the  exception  of  a  portage  of  half  a  league 
around  the  great  cataract. 

Between  Grand  River  and  the  Burlington  Bay  of  to-day, 
at  the  Iroquois  village  of  Otinawatawa,  a  few  miles  north 
of  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Hamilton,  in  September, 
1669,  Jolliet  encountered,  to  their  mutual  surprise.  La 
Salle  on  his  first  journey  westward,  accompanied  by  two 
priests  of  the  Sulpitian  order,  Frangois  Dollier  and 
L'Abb^  de  Galin^e.  Jolliet  gave  the  party  much  valua- 
ble information,  and  outlined  for  them  his  own  route  from 
the  Ottawas,  which  led  the  priests  to  separate  from  La 
Salle,  and  to  pursue  their  journey  along  Lake  Erie.^ 
They  wintered  on  its  shores  and  took  formal  possession 
of  .all  the  lands  adjacent  to  it  in  the  name  of  Louis  XIV, 
whose  arms  with  a  proper  inscription  they  affixed  to  a 
cross  which  they  erected.^    The  public  record  of  this  act 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  ii 

has  caused  the  two  Sulpitians  to  be  considered  the  dis- 
coverers of  this  lake,  but  this  honor,  as  we  have  seen, 
really  belongs  to  JoUiet.  He  went  on  his  way  to  Quebec 
where  he  was  welcomed  as  one  who  had  opened  a  new 
and  easy  navigation  between  Lakes  Ontario  and  Huron. 
Another  and  more  important  link  in  the  great  chain  of 
water  communication  between  the  Gulf  of  St.  Law- 
rence and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  he  was  soon  to  add. 

We  know  that  Jolliet  made  still  other  excursions 
through  the  West,  and  he  was  probably  on  his  way  home- 
ward from  one  of  these  when  he  met  St.  Lusson's  party 
at  Sault  Ste.  Marie.  ^  Before  the  time  of  his  appoint- 
m-ent  he  had  penetrated  almost  to  the  Mississippi.  He 
had  become  familiar  with  the  languages  of  the  tribes 
among  whom  he  had  traveled,^  and  there  was  no  man  in 
Canada  better  qualified  than  he  to  undertake  a  great  dis- 
covery.^ No  wonder,  therefore,  that  the  sagacious  Talon 
chose  him  of  all  others  for  this  service.  The  Intendant's 
action  was  highly  commended  by  those  best  able  to  judge 
of  it.  Count  Frontenac  wrote  the  great  French  Minister 
Colbert  that  Jolliet  was  a  man  renowned  for  this  kind  of 
discovery,  who  had  already  been  nearly  to  the  great  river 
of  which  he  now  promised  to  discover  the  mouth. '^ 
Father  Dablon,  Superior  General  of  the  Missions  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus,  in  his  official  reports  to  the  headquarters 
of  his  order,  stated  that  Jolliet  was  a  young  man  bom  in 
Canada,  and  endowed  with  every  quality  that  could  be 
desired  in  such  an  enterprise.  He  possessed  experience 
and  a  knowledge  of  the  languages  of  the  Ottawa  country 
where  he  had  spent  several  years;  he  had  the  tact  and 
prudence  so  necessary  for  the  success  of  a  voyage  equally 
dangerous  and  difficult,  and  lastly  he  had  courage  to  fear 
nothing  where  all  is  to  be  feared.     These  high  encomi- 


12       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

urns  from  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical  authorities  were 
fully  justified  by  the  result,^* 

Talon  returned  to  France  in  November,  1672,  after  his 
Mississippi  expedition  and  its  leader  had  been  fully 
approved  by  Count  Frontenac,  the  new  Governor  of  Can- 
ada.'* The  Intendant  had  the  pleasure  before  his  depar- 
ture of  seeing  Jolliet  set  forth  on  his  adventurous 
journey.*"  He  was  requested  to  take  with  him  as  the  mis- 
sionary chaplain  of  his  party  the  Jesuit  Father  Jacques 
Marquette,  who  was  then  at  the  mission  of  St.  Ignace 
on  the  mainland  opposite  the  island  of  Mackinac."  This 
was  not  an  official  appointment,**  but  was  doubtless  the 
suggestion  of  the  Jesuit  authorities  at  Quebec,  who 
desired  to  plant  their  missions  in  the  land  of  the  Illinois 
and  recognized  Marquette's  special  fitness  for  such  work. 
The  selection  was  agreeable  to  Jolliet,  who  had  indeed 
expressed  a  wish  that  Marquette  should  be  the  priest 
assigned  to  the  expedition,  as  they  were  already 
acquainted,  and  had  often  talked  of  such  an  enterprise  as 
that  which  awaited  them,*'  Through  this  association  and 
its  consequences  the  story  of  Marquette's  life,  like  that 
of  Jolliet,  has  become  a  part  of  the  history  of  Illinois, 
and  it  is  fitting  to  narrate  it. 

Jacques  Marquette  was  a  native  of  Laon,  in  northeast- 
ern France,  situated  near  a  branch  of  the  River  Oise  in 
the  department  of  Aisne,  a  once  famous  place,  whose 
mountain  site  and  ancient  walls  and  lordly  cathedral 
make  it  still  an  ideal  mediaeval  town.  His  family  was 
the  oldest  and  one  of  the  most  honorable  there,  and  a 
long  line  of  heroic  and  distinguished  ancestors  gave  lus- 
ter to  his  name.  They  traced  their  origin  to  Vermand 
Marquette,  a  favorite  counselor  of  Louis  the  Young,  and 
one  of  those  who  held  for  that  king  the  city  of  Arras, 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  13 

Vermand's  son  Jacques,  intendant  for  Ferrand,  Count 
of  Flanders,  sought  to  share  his  lord's  captivity  after  the 
battle  of  Bouvines,  and  as  a  perpetual  souvenir  of  his 
devotion,  the  Countess  of  Flanders  gave  the  name  of 
Marquette  to  an  abbey  founded  by  her  near  Lille.  The 
next  in  succession  was  Jacques  the  Second,  who  as  one  of 
the  Aldermen  of  Laon  zealously  aided  its  Provost  in 
obtaining  from  the  burghers  a  portion  of  the  ransom  of 
the  hapless  King  John  taken  prisoner  at  Poitiers.  In 
recognition  of  this  service,  the  Alderman  and  the  Provost 
were  authorized  to  add  to  their  coats  of  arms  the  three 
martlets  which  the  city  bore  on  its  own  shield.**  Others 
of  the  family  in  the  sixteenth  century  possessed  the 
estate  of  Touly,  took  the  title  of  esquire,  and  were 
prominent  in  the  magistracy  of  Laon.  Nicolas  Mar- 
quette, a  counselor  of  the  city  in  the  days  of  Henry  of 
Navarre,  adhered  to  that  sovereign  and  refused  to  join 
the  League,  suffering  exile  and  the  loss  of  his  goods 
because  of  his  fidelity  to  the  king.  In  later  times  the 
honor  of  the  name  was  nobly  maintained  by  Jean  Charles 
Marquette,  King's  Advocate  at  Laon  during  Louis  Fif- 
teenth's reign,  whose  reputation  for  justice,  wisdom  and 
virtue  filled  the  whole  province,  and  by  his  son  Antoine 
FranQois  who  was  counselor  of  the  Grand  Chamber  of  the 
Parliament  of  Paris  at  the  outbreak  of  the  French  Revo- 
lution,*^ and  by  the  three  young  Marquettes  who  served 
with  the  troops  of  France  in  our  War  of  Independence, 
and  gave  their  lives  for  our  country.*^ 

But  no  one  of  these  has  conferred  such  renown  upon 
his  lineage,  or  is  so  proudly  commemorated  in  the  annals 
of  Laon*^  as  the  humble  priest  born  there  in  the  year  1637. 
His  mother.  Rose  de  La  Salle,  of  the  royal  city  of  Rheims, 
by  a  singular  coincidence  bore  a  name  which,  like  his 


14      CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

own,  was  to  be  indissolubly  connected  with  the  history 
of  the  Northwest.  She  was  a  relative  of  the  venerable 
Jean  Baptiste  de  La  Salle,  the  founder  of  the  society  known 
as  the  Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools.  Her  religious 
zeal  and  fervor,  combined  perhaps  with  her  kinsman's 
example,  inspired  her  daughter  Frangoise  to  establish 
the  association  for  the  instruction  of  young  girls  named 
from  her  the  Sisters  Marquette,"  and  her  son  to  enroll 
himself  as  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  He  joined 
this  order  at  the  early  age  of  seventeen,  and  after  twelve 
years  of  teaching  and  study,  sought  an  assignment  to  the 
Canadian  missions,  and  arrived  at  Quebec  September 
20,  1666.*'  He  applied  himself  to  the  Indian  tongues 
and  served  as  parish  priest  at  Boucherville,  where  his 
signature  may  still  be  seen  in  the  church  records,  and 
studied  at  Three  Rivers  until  April,  1668,  when  he  was 
ordered  to  prepare  for  the  Ottawa  mission.  During  that 
year  he  began  his  missionary  career  on  the  American 
shore  of  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids, 
and  here,  with  the  aid  of  Father  Claude  Dablon,  who 
joined  him  the  following  season,  a  church  was  built. 
The  next  autumn  he  was  transferred  to  the  mission  at 
La  Pointe  on  Lake  Superior,  to  succeed  Father  Allouez, 
and  reached  his  new  station  September  13,  1669.^°  In 
his  account  of  his  work  there,  written  the  year  ensuing, 
he  mentions  a  sick  man  whom  he  was  the  means  of 
restoring  to  health,  and  who  in  gratitude  gave  him  a 
little  slave  brought  from  the  Illinois  two  or  three  months 
before.  This  seems  to  be  Marquette's  first  public  men- 
tion of  the  name  of  this  tribe,  and  this  epistle  may 
be  called  the  opening  chapter  of  his  account  of  the 
Illinois. 

It  appears  from  it  that  he  was  already  under  orders 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  15 

from  his  Superior,  Father  Frangois  Le  Mercier,  to  go 
and  begin  an  Illinois  mission,  as  soon  as  his  place  could 
be  filled  at  La  Pointe.  It  is  evident  that  his  heart  was 
in  the  plan,  and  that  he  was  most  carefully  collecting 
information  about  the  tribe  and  its  abiding  place.  He 
wrote  that  they  were  thirty  days'  journey  by  land  by  a 
very  difficult  road  from  La  Pointe,  whence,  after  passing 
through  the  territory  of  other  nations,  and  traversing 
great  prairies  one  could  arrive  at  the  country  of  the  Illi- 
nois, who  were  principally  gathered  in  two  villages  con- 
taining more  than  eight  or  nine  thousand  souls.  They 
were  well  enough  disposed  to  receive  Christianity,  and 
after  Father  Allouez  exhorted  them  at  La  Pointe  to 
adore  one  God,  they  began  to  abandon  their  false  deities, 
which  were  the  sun  and  the  thunder;  and  they  promised 
Marquette  that  they  would  embrace  Christianity  and  do 
all  that  he  required  in  their  country.  To  this  end,  the 
Ottawas  gave  him  a  young  man,  who  had  recently  come 
from  the  land  of  the  Illinois,  who  taught  him  the  rudi- 
ments of  their  langfuage  which  he  could  scarcely  compre- 
hend, but  he  hoped,  by  God's  grace,  to  understand  it, 
and  be  understood,  if  God  by  His  goodness  led  him  to 
that  country." 

He  learned,  perhaps  from  the  prisoners  who  had  been 
so  presented  to  him,  that  the  Illinois  always  traveled  by 
land;  and  he  added,  in  unconscious  prophecy  of  the 
harvests  of  the  prairies,  that  they  sowed  Indian  com 
which  they  had  in  great  abundance.  They  also  had 
pumpkins  as  large  as  those  of  France  and  a  plenty  of 
roots  and  fruits.  The  hunting  there  was  very  fine  for 
buffalo,  bear,  turkey,  duck,  bustard,  wild  pigeon  and 
crane.  During  certain  seasons  of  the  year  they  left  their 
villages,  and  all  went  in  a  body  to  their  hunting  grounds. 


i6       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

the  better  to  resist  their  enemies  who  came  to  attack 
them.  They  believed  that  if  Marquette  would  go  there, 
he  would  make  peace  everywhere;  they  could  always 
dwell  in  the  same  place,  and  only  the  young  would  go 
hunting.  They  told  him  that  when  they  came  to  La 
Pointe  they  passed  a  large  river,  almost  a  league  in 
width,  which  ran  from  north  to  south  and  so  far,  that 
they,  as  they  did  not  use  canoes,  had  never  yet  heard  of 
its  mouth.  They  only  knew  that  very  great  nations 
dwelt  upon  it  below  their  territories.^^  This  doubtless 
was  the  Mississippi,  and  it  is  Father  Marquette's  first 
allusion  to  the  mighty  stream.  As  the  Illinois  crossed  it 
on  their  way  to  the  mission  station  on  Lake  Superior  it 
would  appear  that  at  this  period  they  had  been  obliged 
to  withdraw  into  what  is  now  Iowa,  probably  to  escape 
their  relentless  enemies,  the  Iroquois.  It  is  evident  that 
Marquette's  heart  was  strongly  stirred  by  this  account  of 
the  grand  water  way  which  might  lead  him  to  great  con- 
quests for  the  church.  He  concluded  that  it  could  hardly 
empty  in  Virginia,  and  rather  believed  that  its  mouth 
was  in  California.  He  assured  his  Superior  that  if  the 
Indians  who  promised  to  make  him  a  canoe  did  not  fail 
to  keep  their  word,  he  would  go  into  that  river  as  soon  as 
he  was  able,  with  a  Frenchman  and  the  young  man  given 
to  him,  who  knew  some  of  their  languages  and  had  an 
aptness  for  learning  others.  Then,  rejoicing  in  the 
great  future  which  opened  before  him,  he  pledged  him- 
self to  visit  the  peoples  who  inhabited  those  regions,  in 
order  to  open  the  way  to  so  many  of  the  missionary 
priests,  who  had  so  long  awaited  this  happiness,  and  by 
this  discovery  to  obtain  a  complete  knowledge  of  the 
southern  or  western  sea. 

He  was  told  also,  that  six  or  seven  days'  journey  below 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  17 

the  Illinois  villages,  there  was  another  gfreat  river  on 
which  were  very  numerous  nations  who  used  canoes  of 
wood.  This  was  the  Missouri,  which  also  his  party  was 
destined  to  discover,  and  each  new  account  only  made 
him  the  more  eager  to  commence  his  great  undertaking, 
and  to  verify  the  tales  which  the  Indians  brought  him. 
He  said  he  could  not  write  more  until  the  next  year, 
when  his  pen  would  tell  what  he  himself  saw,  if  God  did 
him  the  grace  to  lead  him  to  the  land  he  longed  for. 
But  reluctant  to  abandon  his  theme,  he  resumed  it  to 
speak  again  of  his  favorite  tribe,  the  Illinois,  and  to  record 
with  a  certain  pride  that  they  were  warriors,  who  made 
many  of  their  enemies  slaves.  They  formerly  were  at 
war  with  the  Nadouessi  or  Sioux,  but  Marquette  had 
made  peace  between  them,  in  orcler  that  it  might  be  easier 
for  the  Illinois  to  come  to  La  Pointe,  where  he  was  going 
to  await  their  coming,  in  order  to  accompany  them  to 
their  country.  ^^  He  sent  a  present  to  the  Nadouessi  with 
a  message  not  to  kill  the  French  or  the  Indians  with 
them,  and  that  he  was  going  that  fall  to  the  Illinois, 
whither  they  should  leave  the  way  open.  They  assented 
to  his  request  and  promised  to  come  to  La  Pointe  in  the 
autumn  to  hold  a  council  with  the  Illinois,  and  to  speak 
with  him.  He  uttered  the  pious  wish  that  all  these 
nations  loved  God  as  much  as  they  feared  the  French,  in 
which  case  Christianity  would  soon  flourish.'*  This  coun- 
cil it  seems,  was  never  held,  for  war  broke  out  between 
the  Nadouessi  and  the  Ottawas  and  Hurons,  who  deter- 
mined to  abandon  La  Pointe  du  St.  Esprit,  and  all 
the  fields  they  had  so  long  cultivated  there.  Father 
Marquette  accompanied  them  in  the  summer  of  167 1  in 
their  flight  to  Michillimackinac,  and  remained  in  charge 
of  the  Mission  of  St.  Ignace  for  the  two  years  following, 


i8       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

obliged  for  a  time  to  abandon  his  favorite  scheme  of  a 
mission  to  the  Illinois.*^ 

Jolliet  arrived  at  St.  Ignace  December  8,  1672,  with 
the  orders  of  the  Governor  to  make  the  expedition.  Mar- 
quette, who  joined  him  there,  rejoiced  that  this  happened 
to  be  the  day  of  the  feast  of  the  Immaculate  Conception 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  whom,  he  says,  he  had  always 
invoked  since  he  had  been  in  that  country  to  obtain  of 
God  the  favor  of  being  able  to  visit  the  nations  on  the 
Mississippi  River/*  He  was  enraptured  at  the  good  news 
as  he  saw  his  designs  on  the  point  of  being  accomplished, 
and  himself  in  the  happy  necessity  of  exposing  his  life 
for  the  salvation  of  those  nations,  and  particularly  for  the 
Illinois,  who  had,  when  he  was  at  La  Pointe  du  St.  Esprit, 
very  earnestly  entreated  him  to  carry  the  word  of  God 
to  their  country."  Jolliet  and  Marquette  passed  the  win- 
ter in  preparing  their  outfit  and  making  a  map,  from 
information  derived  from  the  Indians,  of  the  new  country 
which  lay  before  them,  marking  down  the  rivers  on  which 
they  were  to  sail,  the  names  of  the  nations  and  places 
through  which  they  were  to  pass,  the  course  of  the  great 
river,  and  what  direction  they  should  take  when  they 
reached  it,  adopting  all  possible  precautions  that  their 
enterprise,  if  hazardous,  should  not  be  foolhardy.  They 
embarked  from  St.  Ignace  May  17,  1673,  in  two  bark 
canoes,  Jolliet,  Marquette  and  five  other  Frenchmen, 
with  a  stock  of  Indian  corn  and  dried  meat.  The  good 
father  put  their  voyage  under  the  protection  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  Immaculate,  promising  her,  that  if  she 
did  them  the  grace  to  discover  the  great  river,  he  would 
give  it  the  name  of  Conception,  and  that  he  would  also 
give  that  name  to  the  first  mission  which  he  should 
establish  among  these  new  nations.^  He  loyally  redeemed 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  19 

his  promise,  although  this  name  which  he  gave  to  the 
great  river  is  found  only  in  his  narrative  and  on  his  map. 
But  the  name  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  which  he 
gave  to  the  mission  among  the  Kaskaskias  on  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Illinois,  was  its  designation  as  long  as  it 
remained  there,  and  when  it  was  removed  to  the  banks 
of  the  Mississippi,  this  title  was  still  retained.  And  to 
this  day,  in  the  little  village  of  Kaskaskia,  the  oldest 
permanent  settlement  of  white  men  within  the  limits  of 
the  State  of  Illinois,  the  church  and  parish  bear  the  name 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  the  perpetual  reminder 
of  the  vow  of  Marquette  with  which  he  commenced  this^ 
famous  voyage. 

He  tells  us  that  their  joy  at  being  chosen  for  this  expe- 
dition roused  their  courage  and  sweetened  the  labor  of 
rowing  from  morning  until  night.  They  made  their  pad- 
dles ply  merrily  over  a  part  of  Lake  Huron,  and  of  Lake 
Michigan,  then  called  the  Lake  of  the  Illinois,  into  what 
is  now  Green  Bay.  Marquette  preached  to  the  Menomi- 
nees  on  their  river,  and  they  warned  him  in  vain  against 
the  perils  of  his  route  and  the  frightful  monsters  of  the 
Great  River  who  swallowed  up  men  and  canoes  together. 
They  visited  the  mission  of  St.  Fran9ois  Xavier  at  the 
foot  of  the  Bay,  then  passed  up  the  Fox  River  to  the  town 
of  the  Mascoutens,  situated  upon  an  eminence  from  which 
the  eye  saw  on  every  side  prairies  spreading  away  beyond 
its  reach,  interspersed  with  thickets  or  groves  of  lofty 
trees.  This,  he  says,  was  the  limit  of  the  discoveries 
made  by  the  French,  for  they  had  not  passed  beyond  it,** 
and  to  these  people  Father  Allouez  had  preached. 
Immediately  upon  their  arrival  here,  as  Marquette  re- 
cords, they  called  the  chiefs  of  the  tribe  to  an  assembly  at 
which  Jolliet  addressed  them,  stating  that  he  was  sent  by 


20       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

the  Governor  of  Canada  to  discover  new  countries  and 
that  Marquette  was  sent  by  the  Almighty  to  illumine 
them  with  the  light  of  the  gospel.  This  clearly  defines 
the  relative  positions  and  duties  of  the  two  men.  The 
Mascoutens  gave  the  party  two  Miami  guides,  who  led 
them  safely  to  the  portage  to  a  river  emptying  into  the 
Mississippi,  and  helped  them  transport  their  canoes,  after 
which  they  returned,  leaving  them  alone  in  an  unknown 
country  in  the  hands  of  Providence.  For  seven  days  they 
floated  down  the  broad  Wisconsin,  with  its  vine-clad 
islets,  and  fertile  banks  diversified  with  wood,  prairie 
and  hill,  until  on  June  17,  1673,  they  safely  entered  the 
Mississippi  with  a  joy  which  they  could  not  express. 
Following  its  mighty  current  southward  they  came  to  the 
land  of  the  buffalo,  and  having  advanced  more  than  sixty 
leagues  since  entering  the  river,  they  perceived  footprints 
of  men  by  the  waterside,  and  a  beaten  path  entering  a 
beautiful  prairie  on  the  western  shore.*" 

Jolliet  and  Marquette,  leaving  their  canoes  in  charge 
of  their  people,  followed  the  path  about  two  leagues  when 
they  discovered  three  Indian  villages.  Halting,  they 
raised  a  cry  at  which  the  Indians  marched  out  of  their 
cabins,  and  seeing  the  strangers,  deputed  four  old  men 
to  go  and  speak  with  them.  The  ambassadors  approached 
slowly,  two  of  them  carrying  ornamental  tobacco  pipes, 
which  they  raised  occasionally  towards  the  sun,  and  when 
near  they  stood  still.  Marquette,  noticing  that  they 
wore  goods  of  European  manufacture,  and  considering 
their  ceremonies  to  be  friendly,  asked  who  they  were. 
They  answered  that  they  were  Illinois,  and  in  token  of 
peace  offered  their  pipes  to  smoke.  These  pipes  for 
smoking,  says  Marquette,  are  called  in  that  language 
calumets.     This  is  probably  the  origin  of  the  word  in  our 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  21 

language.  They  were  welcomed  at  the  door  of  the  cabin 
in  which  they  were  to  be  received,  by  an  old  man,  who 
said;  "How  beautiful,  O  Frenchman,  is  the  sun  when 
thou  comest  to  visit  us.  All  our  village  awaits  thee,  and 
thou  shalt  enter  all  our  cabins  in  peace."  And  they 
heard  from  the  throng  of  people  about  occasionally  the 
words;  "Well  done,  brothers,  to  visit  us!"  They  were 
then  invited  to  the  village  of  the  great  sachem  of  all  the 
Illinois  where  Marquette  addressed  those  assembled,  say- 
ing, that  they  came  in  peace  to  visit  all  the  nations  on  the 
river,  to  make  God  known  to  them,  to  tell  them  that  the 
great  chief  of  the  French  had  spread  peace  everywhere 
and  had  overcome  the  Iroquois,  and  to  ask  for  all  the 
information  they  had  of  the  sea  and  of  the  nations  on  the 
route  to  it.  Then  the  sachem  spoke  thus;  "I  thank  thee, 
Blackgown,  and  thee,  Frenchman,"  addressing  JoUiet, 
"for  taking  so  much  pains  to  come  and  visit  us;  never 
has  the  earth  been  so  beautiful,  or  the  sun  so  bright  as 
to-day ;  nev^r  has  our  river  been  so  calm,  or  so  free  from 
rocks,  which  your  canoes  have  removed  as  they  passed ; 
never  has  our  tobacco  had  so  fine  a  flavor,  or  our  corn 
appeared  so  beautiful  as  we  behold  it  to-day.  Here  is 
my  son  that  I  give  thee,  that  thou  mayest  know  my  heart. 
I  pray  thee  to  take  pity  on  me  and  all  my  nation.  Thou 
knowest  the  Great  Spirit  who  has  made  us  all;  thou 
speakest  to  him,  and  hearest  his  word,  ask  him  to  give 
me  life  and  health,  and  come  and  dwell  with  us  that  we 
may  know  him ! ' '  Then  presenting  them  with  a  little 
slave  and  with  a  mysterious  calumet  to  serve  as  their 
safeguard  among  the  nations  they  had  to  pass,  he  begged 
them  not  to  proceed  further  on  account  of  the  great  dan- 
gers to  which  they  exposed  themselves.  A  high  festival 
followed;  they  were  laden  with  presents,  and  the  next 


2  2       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

day  took  their  leave,  promising  to  return  in  four  months. 
Marquette  personally  assured  them  that  he  would  return 
the  next  year,  to  stay  with  them  and  instruct  them. 
Digressing  from  his  narrative  to  speak  of  these  the  most 
promising  of  all  the  tribes,  he  proudly  adds,  ' '  to  say  Illi- 
nois is  in  their  language  to  say  'the  men,'  as  if  other 
Indians  compared  to  them  were  mere  beasts.  And  it 
must  be  admitted  that  they  have  an  air  of  humanity  that 
we  had  not  remarked  in  the  other  nations  that  we  had 
seen  on  the  way. ' '  This  village  of  which  he  speaks  he 
calls  Peouarea,  and  on  his  map  he  places  it  and  another 
named  Moingwena  on  the  west  side  of  the  Missisisippi  and 
on  the  river  now  called  the  Des  Moines.  As  they  coasted 
the  base  of  cliffs,  frightful  for  their  height  and  length, 
they  saw  two  monsters  painted  on  one  of  the  rocks  which 
startled  them  at  first,  and  on  which  the  boldest  Indian 
dared  not  gaze  long.  "They  are,"  he  says,  "large  as  a 
calf,  with  horns  on  the  head  like  a  deer,  a  fearful  look, 
red  eyes,  bearded  like  a  tiger,  the  face  somewhat  like  a 
man's,  the  body  covered  with  scales,  and  the  tail  so  long 
that  it  twice  makes  the  turn  of  the  body,  passing  over  the 
head  and  between  the  legs,  and  ending  at  last  in  a  fish's 
tail.  Green,  red,  and  a  kind  of  black,  are  the  colors 
employed.  On  the  whole  these  two  monsters  are  so  well 
painted  that  we  could  not  believe  any  Indian  to  have 
been  the  designer,  as  good  painters  in  France  would  find 
it  hard  to  do  as  well ;  besides  this,  they  are  so  high  up  on 
the  rock,  that  it  is  hard  to  get  conveniently  at  them  to 
paint  them."" 

As  they  were  discoursing  of  these  marvelous  represen- 
tations, sailing  gently  down  the  beautiful  still  clear  water 
of  the  upper  Mississippi,  suddenly  the  air  was  filled  with 
the  noise  as  of  a  rapid,  like  those  with  which  they  had 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  23 

"become  familiar  upon  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  they  seemed 
about  to  fall  into  its  foaming  current.  Then,  as  they 
rounded  the  point,  whence  the  Mississippi,  after  flowing 
eastward  for  twenty  miles  along  the  rocky  bluffs  on  the 
Illinois  shore,  which  early  explorers  called  the  Ruined 
Castles,*^  resumes  its  southward  way,  they  saw  another 
mighty  stream,  the  sound  of  whose  pouring  waters  they 
had  heard.  From  its  mouth  there  came  rushing  a  mass 
of  large  trees  entire,  with  branches,  real  floating  islands, 
so  impetuously  that  they  had  seen  nothing  more  frightful, 
i/  and  could  not  without  great  danger  pass  across  its  junc- 
tion with  the  Mississippi,  and  thenceforward  the  water 
was  all  muddy  and  could  not  get  clear.  This  was  their 
introduction  to  the  great  Missouri,  which  they  called  the 
Pekitanoili.  They  learned  from  the  Indians  that  it  came 
from  very  far  in  the  Northwest,  and  that  from  its  head- 
waters another  river  could  be  reached  which  emptied  into 
the  sea,  and  they  hoped  by  its  means  to  make  the  discov- 
ery of  a  route  to  the  Gulf  of  California,  They  judged 
now  by  the  direction  the  Mississippi  was  taking  that  it 
had  its  mouth  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico;  and  they  followed 
its  course,  thankful  for  their  escape  from  the  terrors  of 
the  Missouri,  and  perhaps  from  those  of  the  painted  rocks 
as  well.  They  floated  on  past  the  fine  plateau,  where 
almost  a  hundred  years  later  the  city  of  St.  Louis  was  to  be 
founded,  and  the  sites  on  which,  within  the  next  thirty 
years,  the  little  French  villages  of  Cahokia  and  Kaskaskia 
were  to  spring  up;  and  midway  between  them  the  lonely 
island  opposite  the  spot  on  the  river  bank  above  which 
within  the  succeeding  half  century  the  flag  of  France  was 
to  fly  over  the  walls  of  Fort  Chartres. 

And    soon   they   came   to   the   place   dreaded   by   the 
Indians,  because  they  thought  there  was  a  manitou  there. 


24       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

that  is,  a  demon  who  devours  all  who  pass,  and  of  this  it 
was  that  those  had  spoken  who  had  wished  to  deter  them 
from  their  enterprise.  This  dismal  place  which  sent  fear 
throughout  the  tribes,  even  to  the  dwellers  by  Lake  Mich- 
igan, was  the  same  of  which  they  had  been  told  by  the 
Menominees  and  by  the  Illinois,  who  believed  that  there 
was  a  demon  there  who  could  be  heard  from  afar,  who 
stopped  the  passage  and  engulfed  all  who  dared  approach. 
Says  Marquette,  "the  devil  is  this — a  small  bay  full  of 
rocks  some  twenty  feet  high,  where  the  whole  current  of 
the  river  is  whirled,  and  hurled  back  against  that  which 
follows ;  and  checked  by  a  neighboring  island,  the  mass 
of  water  is  forced  through  a  narrow  channel ;  all  this  is 
not  done  without  a  furious  combat  of  the  waters  tumbling 
over  each  other,  nor  without  a  great  roaring,  which 
strikes  terror  into  the  Indians,  who  fear  everything. ' '  ®* 
The  turn  of  the  Mississippi  around  the  headland  of  Grand 
Tower  and  the  tall  rock  of  that  name  rising  from  the  bed 
of  the  river,  so  well  known  in  the  after  days  of  emigrant 
and  steamer  travel,  are  the  scenes  which  had  so  weird  an 
early  fame."  They  did  not  present  difficulties  sufficient 
to  prevent  the  passing  of  the  travelers,  who,  after  coast- 
ing the  whole  western  boundary  of  what  is  now  the  State 
of  Illinois,  reached  the  river  which  the  natives  called  the 
Ouaboukigou,  that  is,  the  Ohio,  then  bearing  the  name 
which  ultimately  became  that  by  which  its  principal  trib- 
utary, the  Wabash,  is  known. 

Thence  they  continued  to  descend  the  Mississippi,  see- 
ing less  prairie  land  because  both  sides  of  the  river  were 
lined  with  lofty  woods ;  and  came  to  a  warmer  region, 
where  thick  groves  of  cane  lined  the  banks,  and  mos- 
quitoes filled  the  air.  They  encountered  a  band  of  hos- 
tile  Indians  armed  with  bows,  arrows,  axes,  war  clubs 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  25 

and  bucklers,  prepared  to  attack  them  by  land  and  by 
water  in  large  wooden  canoes.  In  vain  Marquette  showed 
the  calumet  and  made  gestures  to  explain  that  they  had 
not  come  as  enemies.  They  were  about  to  pierce  them 
from  all  sides  with  their  arrows  when  the  old  men,  doubt- 
less at  the  sight  of  the  calumet,  which  at  a  distance  they 
had  not  distinctly  recognized,  restrained  the  ardor  of  their 
youth  and  brought  them  to  the  shore  in  peace.  These 
people  were  of  the  tribe  of  the  Mitchigameas,  who  sub- 
sequently became  part  of  the  Illinois  nation.  The  trav- 
elers finding  there,  and  lower  down  the  river,  an 
occasional  person  who  spoke  the  Illinois  tongue,  arrived 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas  River,  at  the  end  of  a 
month's  navigation  down  the  Mississippi.  Being  satisfied 
from  the  native  accounts  and  their  own  observations  that 
the  great  river  flowed  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  fear- 
ing that  they  might  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards 
if  they  reached  the  sea,  they  decided  to  return.  Ascend- 
ing the  Mississippi,  and  with  great  difficulty  stemming 
its  current,  they  left  it  about  the  thirty-eighth  parallel 
of  latitude,  and  entered  another  river,  which  greatly 
shortened  their  route,  and  brought  them  on  their  way 
with  little  trouble.  And  they  "had  seen  nothing  like  this 
river,"  says  the  good  Father,'*  "for  the  fertility  of  the 
land,  its  prairies,  woods,  wild  cattle,  stag,  deer,  wildcats, 
bustards,  swans,  ducks,  parrots,  and  even  beaver;  its 
many  little  lakes  and  rivers. ' '  This  river  was  the  Illi- 
nois, and  at  last  for  a  certainty  the  very  land  of  the  Illi- 
nois had  been  reached.  This  account  is  the  first  printed 
description  of  its  beauties  and  characteristics,  its  wealth 
of  fertile  soil  and  living  creatures,  by  an  eye-witness. 
And  thus  Father  Marquette  becomes  its  first  historian. 
Somewhere  upon  their  return  voyage  the  travelers  met. 


26       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

again  the  Indians  of  the  Peoria  village,  and  spent  three 
days  in  their  cabins;  Marquette  announcing  the  faith  to 
them,  and  baptizing  a  dying  child  which  was  brought  to 
him  on  the  water's  edge  as  they  were  embarking.  He 
felt  that  if  the  voyage  had  caused  the  salvation  of  that 
innocent  soul,  all  his  fatigue  was  well  repaid.  At  what 
point  they  fell  in  with  these  roving  tribesmen  we  cannot 
be  certain,  but  possibly  not  far  from  the  modem  town 
which  bears  their  name,  and  upon  the  banks  of  the  Illi- 
nois. Pursuing  their  journey  upon  this  broad,  deep  and 
gentle  stream,  Jolliet  and  Marquette  found  an  Illinois 
town  called  Kaskaskia,  composed  of  seventy-four  cabins, 
which  was  situated  probably  not  far  from  the  eminence 
now  called  Buffalo  Rock.  The  natives  received  them 
well,  and  persuaded  them  to  promise  to  return  and 
instruct  them.  One  of  the  chiefs  with  his  young  men 
escorted  them  by  a  portage  half  a  league  in  length, 
doubtless  between  the  streams  now  known  as  the  Des 
Plaines  and  the  Chicago,  to  the  lake  of  the  Illinois,  since 
called  Lake  Michigan.  And  Jolliet,  Marquette  and  their 
party  said  farewell  to  their  kindly  Indian  hosts  on  the 
lonely  prairie,  which  was  to  be  the  site  of  the  city  of 
Chicago;  and  went  on  their  way,  in  the  mild  autumn 
weather,  paddling  their  canoes  northward  along  the 
lake,  and  in  the  last  days  of  September  arrived  again  at 
the  mission  of  St.  Frangois  Xavier  on  Green  Bay.  It  was 
a  wonderful  four  months'  journey,  but  full  of  hardships, 
and  it  is  not  strange  that  Marquette  should  have  been 
obliged  to  remain  at  this  haven  of  rest  to  recruit  his 
exhausted  strength,  for  more  than  a  year."  Jolliet  also 
stayed  at  the  West  until  the  season  after  his  return  from 
the  Mississippi,"  and  it  has  been  suggested  that  he  spent 
the  following  winter  upon  the  upper  waters  of  the  lUi- 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  27 

nois.**  However  this  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  at  some 
period  after  leaving  the  mission  at  Green  Bay  he  visited 
that  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  and  probably  while  there  pre- 
pared his  official  map  and  report,  as  he  left  copies  with 
the  priests  at  that  station.""  His  map  was  drawn  with 
great  care,  and  his  report  was  very  full,  embracing  all 
that  was  curious  and  interesting  in  that  famous  voyage.™ 
In  the  summer  of  1674  Jolliet  set  out  for  Quebec  to 
present  in  person  to  the  Governor  of  Canada  the  formal 
documents  which  would  entitle  him  as  the  commander  of 
the  expedition  to  the  honor  of  the  discovery  of  the  mighty 
Mississippi  and  of  the  long-sought  land  of  the  Illinois. 
It  might  seem  that  he  followed  the  route  of  the  Detroit 
River  and  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario,  and  so  down  the  St. 
Lawrence;  since  Frontenac,  writing  to  Colbert  of  Jolliet's 
return,  says  he  found  a  navigation  so  easy  that  a  person 
can  go  from  Lake  Ontario  and  Fort  Frontenac  in  a  bark 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  there  being  only  one  portage,  half 
a  league  in  length,  where  Lake  Ontario  communicates 
with  Lake  Erie ;"  and  yet,  as  Jolliet  himself  speaks  of 
passing  forty-two  rapids  on  his  return  voyage,  this  de- 
scription better  suits  the  route  by  Lake  Nepissing  and  the 
Ottawa  River.  ^^  All  went  well  with  him  until  he  was 
within  a  quarter  of  an  hour's  journey  of  Montreal,  and 
in  sight  of  the  very  houses  he  had  left  almost  two  years 
before  to  commence  his  expedition,  when  the  good  for- 
tune which  had  so  far  attended  his  way  suddenly  deserted 
him.  His  canoe  upset  in  the  foaming  billows  of  the 
Sault  St.  Louis;  his  box  of  papers,  containing  his  map 
and  report,  was  lost;  he  himself  was  rescued  with  diffi- 
culty by  some  fishermen  after  he  had  been  four  hours  in 
the  water  and  had  lost  consciousness,  and  two  of  his  com- 
panions were  drowned.     One  of  these  was  the  slave  pre- 


28       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

sented  to  him  by  the  great  chief  of  the  Illinois,  a  little 
Indian  lad,  ten  years  of  age,  whom  he  deeply  regretted, 
describing  him  as  of  a  good  disposition,  full  of  spirit, 
industrious  and  obedient,  and  already  beginning  to  read 
and  write  the  French  language.  And  all  this  happened 
to  him,  he  says,  after  he  had  avoided  perils  from  sav- 
ages, had  passed  forty-two  rapids,  and  was  about  to  land 
full  of  joy  at  the  success  of  so  long  and  difl&cult  an  enter- 
prise, and  when  all  danger  seemed  over." 

To  this  accident  it  is  due  that  Marquette's  report  to  the 
Jesuits  becomes  the  history  of  the  expedition,  although 
this  was  never  the  expectation  of  any  of  those  concerned. 
In  his  retirement  by  the  quiet  shores  of  Green  Bay,  while 
slowly  regaining  his  health,  Marquette,  at  the  request  of 
his  Superior,  prepared  and  sent  to  Quebec  copies  of  his 
journal  concerning  the  Mississippi  voyage,^*  and  doubtless 
one  of  them  was  accompanied  by  a  map  drawn  by  him. 
Father  Claude  Dablon,  then  Rector  of  the  College  of 
Quebec,  made  use  of  one  of  these  copies  in  preparing  his 
"Relation  of  the  Discovery  of  the  South  Sea  made  by 
the  rivers  of  New  France,"  sent  from  Quebec  August  i, 
1674,  and  transmitted  a  transcript  of  Marquette's  man- 
uscript to  Paris.  ^^  This  came  to  the  hands  of  the  pub- 
lisher Thevenot,  by  whom  it  was  made,  with  some 
change  and  abbreviation,  a  part  of  his  Rescueil  de  Voy- 
ages, printed  in  1681.^'  To  it  was  annexed  a  map  drawn 
by  the  Jesuits  about  that  time,  to  which  Marquette's 
name  was  attached,  and  which  passed  as  his  work  for 
almost  two  centuries,  although  a  very  inaccurate  per- 
formance and  inconsistent  with  his  narrative."  For 
many  years  the  genuine  map  and  one  copy  of  Marquette's 
account,  prepared  for  publication  in  1678  by  Dablon,  who 
wrote  the  introduction,  lay  unnoticed  in  the  archives  of 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  29 

the  Jesuit  College  at  Quebec.  When  that  institution  was 
closed,  the  last  survivor  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  Canada 
deposited  these  precious  papers  with  the  nuns  of  the 
Quebec  Hotel  Dieu,  in  whose  hands  they  remained  from 
shortly  before  1800  to  1844.  They  were  in  this  year  pre- 
sented to  the  Reverend  F^lix  Martin,  one  of  the  Jesuit 
Fathers  then  visiting  Canada,  and  were  subsequently 
transferred  to  the  College  Ste.  Marie  at  Montreal.  Here 
they  were  found  by  John  Gilmary  Shea,  who  translated 
and  published  the  narrative  in  1852  in  his  "Discovery  of 
the  Mississippi,"  with  a  facsimile  of  Marquette's  own 
map,  which  speedily  superseded  the  spurious  drawing  so 
long  ascribed  to  him.  This  copy  of  the  narrative,  and 
the  original  map  in  the  handwriting  of  Father  Marquette, 
are  still  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  College  Ste. 
Marie." 

The  publication  of  Thevenot's  work  gave  the  first 
information  to  the  world  of  these  wonderful  discoveries, 
and  very  naturally  Marquette's  name  was  most  promi- 
nently associated  with  them.  Little  thought  had  he, 
however,  of  such  earthly  fame,  and  he  went  to  his  noble 
death  within  a  twelvemonth  after  his  journal  was  written, 
and  six  years  before  it  saw  the  light.  Jolliet  was  less 
fortunate  in  any  public  mention  of  his  part  in  this  g^eat 
enterprise.  As  soon  as  he  had  recovered  from  his  dis- 
aster he  prepared  from  memory  a  brief  account  and  made 
a  map,  and  sent  them  to  Count  Frontenac.  These  the 
Governor,  in  November,  1674,  transmitted  to  the  Min- 
ister Colbert,  informing  him  that  Jolliet  had  discovered 
some  very  fine  countries  and  a  grand  river,  running  from 
north  to  south,  as  large  as  the  St.  Lawrence  opposite 
Quebec,  and  had  very  well  acquitted  himself,  and,  refer- 
ring to  the  loss  of  the  minutes  and  journals,  he  promised 


30       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

further  particulars  from  the  copies  left  by  Jolliet  with  the 
Fathers  at  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  which  would  be  for- 
warded the  next  year.  This  dispatch,  however,  slum- 
bered in  the  French  archives  until  the  middle  of  this 
century,  when  it  was  translated  and  printed  among  the 
documents  relating  to  the  colonial  history  of  New  York, 
but  without  the  account  or  the  map.^*  In  October,  1674, 
Jolliet  addressed  a  letter  to  Frontenac,  in  which  he  spoke 
of  the  loss  of  his  papers  and  of  some  curiosities  from 
those  lands  so  far  away,  and  said  that  but  for  his  ship- 
wreck his  Highness  would  have  received  a  sufficiently 
interesting  account  of  his  journey,  which  he  briefly 
described.  He  mentioned  the  natives,  the  fruits,  the 
birds  and  the  animals,  all  found  in  a  country  more  beau- 
tiful than  France ;  where  there  are  prairies  leagues  in 
width,  surrounded  by  forests  as  grand  as  the  prairies. 
This  letter  was  found  in  the  Seminaire  de  St.  Sulpice  at 
Paris,  and  printed  in  1872.*"  The  details  of  Jolliet' s  voy- 
age and  the  relation  of  his  discovery,  both  of  which  seem 
to  be  derived  from  his  oral  accounts  were  disinterred  by 
Margry  among  the  public  documents  at  Paris,  and  first 
made  known  in  1879.*'  These  are  much  fuller  than  the 
letter,  giving  substantially  the  same  account  as  Mar- 
quette's, and  the  relation  contains  an  extract  from  the 
lost  journal,  apparently  dictated  by  Jolliet,  and  evidently 
contemplates  the  recovery  of  an  entire  copy  which  will, 
it  says,  content  the  curious  and  satisfy  the  geographers.** 
These  two  papers  are  thought  to  be  different  versions  of 
JoUiet's  report  to  Frontenac,"  which  thus  became  in  sub- 
stance known  so  many  years  after  its  preparation. 

About  the  same  time  a  map  was  found  in  France  and 
edited  by  Gabriel  Gravier  which  is  with  reason  believed 
to   be   that   which   originally   accompanied   this   report. 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  31 

Thus  we  probably  have  the  substitutes  furnished  by 
Jolliet  for  that  report  and  map  which  were  intended  to 
be  the  official  record  of  the  remarkable  voyage  on  which 
he  was  the  commander,  and  in  connection  with  which 
his  fame  should  surpass  that  of  Marquette.  On  this 
recently  discovered  map  is  engraved  a  tablet  containing 
another  letter  from  Jolliet  to  Frontenac-  informing  him 
that  he  had  given  to  the  great  river,  beyond  the  lakes,  the 
designation  of  Buade,  the  family  name  of  Frontenac,  and 
dwelling  in  glowing  terms  upon  the  prairies,  the  forests, 
the  fruits,  the  birds,  and  the  fish  of  the  fair  land  more 
beautiful  than  France,  which  he  had  discovered.**  Two 
or  three  other  maps  ascribed  to  Jolliet  are  in  various  col- 
lections,*'* but  these  and  the  few  documents  which  we  have 
mentioned,  comprise  everything  known  to  be  from  his 
hand  relating  to  the  great  discovery,  and  these  all  have 
been  found  during  the  present  century.  They  do  not 
take  the  place  of  that  very  exact  chart  and  very  careful 
history  which  were  lost  in  the  river  St.  Lawrence ;  and  it 
is  permitted  still  to  hope  that  the  copies  which  were  left 
at  the  Mission  of  Sault  Ste,  Marie*®  have  not  perished  like 
the  originals,  but  may  appear  some  day  as  unexpectedly 
as  did  those  of  Marquette  but  forty  years  ago,  to  rejoice 
the  hearts  of  all  who  are  interested  in  the  history  of  the 
Great  West,  and  to  give  new  honor  to  the  name  of  Louis 
Jolliet. 

While  Jolliet  returned  to  the  settlements  on  the  St. 
Lawrence,  Marquette  remained  at  the  Mission  of 
St.  Frangois  Xavier,  on  account  of  his  ill  health,  until 
the  fall  of  1674.  Then  receiving  orders  to  return  to  the 
Illinois  region  to  establish  a  mission,  he  set  out  for  that 
purpose  on  the  25th  of  October  of  that  year"  accom- 
panied by  two  Frenchmen,  one  of  whom  had  been  with 


32       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

him  on  his  former  voyage.**    They  were  named  Jacques 

and  Pierre  Porteret,  the  latter  a  member  of  the 

party  of  St.  Lusson  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  in  167 1.*'  They 
followed  the  eastern  shore  of  Green  Bay  to  Sturgeon 
Inlet,  where  they  overtook  five  canoes  of  Pottawattamies 
and  four  of  Illinois,  who  had  started  before  them  to  go  to 
the  Kaskaskia  village,  with  whom  they  journeyed  onward. 
In  Marquette's  journal  of  this  voyage  the  name 
"Chicago"  probably  first  appears  in  the  term  "Chacha- 
gou-essiou, ' '  the  title  of  one  of  these  Illinois  Indians,  who 
was,  he  says,  much  esteemed  in  his  nation,  partly  because 
he  concerned  himself  with  trade.  The  friendly  Illinois 
urged  Marquette  not  to  separate  from  them  because  he 
might  need  them,  and  because  the  Indians  knew  the 
water  navigation  better  than  the  French ;  and  the  Illinois 
women  helped  the  white  men  to  make  the  difficult  port- 
age which  brought  them  to  the  western  shore  of  Lake 
Michigan.  This  they  coasted  for  more  than  a  month, 
delayed  at  times  by  wind  and  storm,  and  by  the  snow 
which  began  to  fall  in  November.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  following  month  they  arrived  at  the  Chicago  River, 
called  by  them  the  Portage,  and  encamped  at  its  mouth. 
The  stream  was  frozen  half  a  foot  thick,  and  there  was 
more  snow  on  its  shores  than  they  had  yet  met  with, 
but  game  was  abundant.  During  their  stay  there, 
Pierre  and  Jacques  killed  three  buffalo  and  four  deer  and 
turkeys  in  their  very  camp  and  partridges  close  by.  An 
ice  bound  river  and  a  snow  clad  prairie,  crossed  by  tracks 
of  wild  animals  and  birds,  compose  the  first  known  sketch 
of  the  site  of  the  great  city  of  the  West. 

A  little  later  they  moved  to  a  point  near  the  portage  to 
the  Des  Plaines,  and  Marquette's  returning  illness  pre- 
venting his  going  further,  they  built  a  cabin  and  resolved 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  33 

to  winter  there.  The  Illinois  Indians  left  them  to  go  to 
their  own  people,  and  Marquette  sent  a  message  that  he 
would  be  at  their  village  in  the  spring.  Eighteen  leagues 
beyond  in  a  beautiful  hunting  country  two  Frenchmen 
were  living  who,  in  expectation  of  Marquette's  coming, 
had  laid  up  provisions  and  prepared  a  cabin  for  him. 
One  of  these  was  a  famous  coureur  de  bois,  named  Pierre 
Moreau,  styled  La  Taupine  or  the  Tawny,  who  was  once 
a  soldier  in  the  garrison  at  Quebec,  and  in  1671  was  at 
Sault  Ste.  Marie  when  St.  Lusson  took  possession  of 
the  country.  He  was  the  son  of  Abraham  Moreau  and 
Marguerite  Nauret  of  St.  Eric  de  Masa,  of  Xaintes,  and 
born  in  1639,  probably  at  the  place  last  named.  A  few 
years  after  Marquette  met  him  the  Intendant  Du  Ches- 
neau  wrote  the  Minister  Seignelay,  complaining  of  the 
disobedience  of  the  coureurs  de  bois  to  the  laws  regulating 
the  Indian  trade,  and  cited  the  case  of  La  Taupine,  who 
set  out  for  the  Ottawas  in  1678,  and  traded  in  two  days, 
in  one  single  village  of  this  tribe,  nearly  nine  hundred 
beaver  skins.  The  Intendant  ordered  him  to  be  arrested, 
but  released  him  on  his  presenting  a  license  permitting 
him  and  two  comrades  to  go  to  the  Ottawas  to  execute  the 
secret  orders  of  Count  Frontenac,  whom  Du  Chesneau 
alleged  to  be  interested  with  Moreau.  Hardly  had  he 
been  set  at  liberty  when  the  Town  Major  of  Quebec  came 
at  the  head  of  some  soldiers  to  force  the  prison,  if  neces- 
sary, bearing  written  orders  from  Frontenac  to  set  Pierre 
Moreau,  his  bearer  of  dispatches  to  Quebec,  at  liberty 
forthwith,  and  to  employ  every  means  for  that  purpose. 
This  is  our  latest  information  concerning  the  doings  of 
this  bold  wood-ranger,  and  we  only  know  that  he  sur- 
vived the  perils  of  the  forest  and  the  wrath  of  the  Inten- 
dant, and  died  at  Quebec  August  24,  1727,  at  the  good  old 


34       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

age  of  eighty-eight  years,  having  had  a  family  of  thirteen 
children.^"  His  comrade  was  called  the  Surgeon,  whether 
in  truth  or  in  jest  we  cannot  tell ;  and  this  hardy  pair 
seem  to  have  found  their  way  to  the  land  of  the  Illi- 
nois, and  established  themselves  as  traders  subsequent  to 
Jolliet  and  Marquette's  visit  of  the  year  before.  It  is 
possible  they  were  here  even  earlier,  since,  as  a  rule,  the 
fur  traders  preceded  the  government  explorer  and  the 
missionary  in  the  discovery  of  the  West,  but  seldom  left 
any  record.  As  soon  as  they  heard  of  the  good  Father's 
illness,  the  Surgeon  came  with  supplies  and  rendered 
every  assistance  in  his  power. 

Passing  Indians  also  gave  aid,  and  towards  the  end  of 
the  winter  Marquette's  disease  was  checked;  he  began  to 
recover  strength,  and  by  the  last  of  March  was  able  to 
resume  his  journey."  He  arrived  at  the  Kaskaskia  vil- 
lage on  Monday,  the  8th  of  April,  and  was  received  there 
as  an  angel  from  heaven.  A  great  council  was  held  on  a 
beautiful  prairie  near  the  town,  probably  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  Illinois  River.  Five  hundred  chiefs  and  old 
men  were  seated  in  a  circle  around  the  priest,  while  the 
youth  stood  without,  to  the  number  of  fifteen  hundred, 
besides  the  many  women  and  children.  Marquette 
addressed  them,  and  on  Thursday  said  mass,  and  three 
days  after,  on  Easter  Sunday,  celebrated  that  rite  a  sec- 
ond time ;  and  it  is  said,  by  these  two  sacrifices,  the  first 
ever  offered  there  to  God,  he  took  possession  of  that  land 
in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  gave  the  mission  the 
name  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin. 

His  malady  soon  obliged  him  to  leave,  but  all  these 
people  earnestly  besought  him  to  return  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble, and  he  gave  his  word  that  either  he  or  some  of  the 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  35 

Fathers  would  return  to  continue  the  mission  so  happily 
begun.  This  promise  he  repeated  again  and  again  on 
parting  with  them  to  begin  his  journey,  and  he  set  out 
amid  such  marks  of  friendship  from  these  good  people 
that  they  escorted  him  with  pomp  more  than  thirty 
leagfues  of  the  way,  contending  with  one  another  for  the 
honor  of  carrying  his  little  bag.  It  is  probable  that  they 
made  known  to  him  the  route  by  the  Kankakee  and  St. 
Joseph  Rivers,  since  he  returned  by  these  streams  along 
the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Michigan.®*  His  failing  strength 
rendered  him  so  helpless  that  he  had  to  be  handled  and 
carried  like  a  child,  and  his  death  rapidly  drew  near.  He 
pointed  out  the  place  of  his  last  repose  on  a  rising  ground 
at  the  mouth  of  a  river,  and  died  as  he  had  lived,  hero- 
ically. His  faithful  followers  buried  him  on  the  spot  he 
had  chosen,  and  raised  a  large  cross  near  it  to  serve  as  a 
mark  for  passers  by,'^  So  passed  away  Jacques  Mar- 
quette at  the  early  age  of  thirty-eight  years,  on  Saturday 
the  i8th  of  May,  1675.'*  In  the  following  spring  a  band 
of  Kiskakon  Indians,  whom  Marquette  had  instructed 
when  stationed  at  La  Pointe,  visited  his  burial  place,  and 
resolved  to  bring  his  remains  to  the  mission  of  St.  Ignace 
at  Michillimackinac,  where  their  tribe  was  then  gathered. 
This  was  done  with  all  respect,  and  a  fleet  of  thirty 
canoes  acted  as  a  convoy  to  that  which  bore  the  precious 
burden.  The  missionaries  received  the  body  reverently, 
and  all  funeral  honors  having  been  paid,  they  deposited 
it  in  a  little  vault  in  the  middle  of  the  church,  there  to 
repose  as  the  guardian  angel  of  the  Ottawa  Missions.'^ 

Marquette's  lovely  character  endeared  him  to  all  who 
knew  him,  his  lofty  zeal  and  rare  self-sacrifice  made  him 
an  example  for  all  time,  and  his  participation  in  the  fa- 
mous Mississippi  voyage  associated  him  with  one  of  the- 


36       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

world's  great  discoveries.  Illinois  may  well  be  proud 
that  his  name  appears  in  her  early  annals.  There  is  no 
memento  of  him  so  interesting  and  so  pathetic  as  his 
unfinished  letter  describing  his  last  visit  to  the  land  of 
the  Illinois.  It  is  our  authority  for  that  expedition  almost 
to  the  time  of  his  arrival  at  the  Kaskaskia  village,  after 
which  he  had  no  strength  to  write  more,  and  the  story  of 
his  last  days  is  that  told  by  his  faithful  companions.  This 
letter,  all  in  his  own  handwriting,  which  closes  abruptly 
on  April  6,  1675,  is  still  preserved,  with  his  map  and 
the  copy  of  the  narrative  of  his  first  voyage,  at  the  Col- 
lege of  Ste.  Marie  in  Montreal,  where  it  was  found  by 
Mr.  Shea.  The  larger  portion  of  it  was  written  in  Mar- 
quette's winter  camp  at  the  bleak  portage,  within  the 
present  limits  of  Chicago,  and  it  would  be  very  fitting 
should  it  find  its  final  abiding  place  in  the  city  of  whose 
earliest  history  it  is  a  priceless  and  unique  memorial. 

JoUiet,  after  his  return  to  Quebec,  resumed  his  resi- 
dence there  and  became  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the 
place.  On  the  7th  of  October,  1675,  he  wedded  Claire 
Frangoise  Bissot,  daughter  of  a  wealthy  Canadian  mer- 
chant, in  the  same  parish  church  which  had  witnessed  the 
nuptials  of  his  parents  and  his  own  baptism.^  Of  this 
marriage  were  born  seven  children,  Louis,  Marie  Char- 
lotte, Francois,  Jean  Baptiste,  Claire,  Anne  and  Marie 
Genevieve.*''  We  find  occasional  references  to  JoUiet  in 
the  public  records  of  the  time,  but  our  knowledge  of  his 
later  life  is  limited.  Four  years  after  his  Mississippi  voy- 
age, Count  Frontenac  was  engaged  in  one  of  his  periodic 
quarrels  with  the  Jesuits,  who,  knowing  that  the  Gov- 
ernor favored  La  Salle's  request  for  a  concession  of  the 
trade  of  Lakes  Erie  and  Michigan,  concerted  an  opposing 
scheme.     At  their  instigation,  as  the  Governor  alleges  in 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  37 

his  correspondence  with  Colbert,  JoUiet  and  an  associate 
named  Lebert  applied  for  a  similar  concession,  and  Jol- 
liet  also  asked  for  permission  to  establish  himself  with 
twenty  men  in  the  land  of  the  Illinois.  It  would  seem 
that  no  one  was  better  entitled  to  this  privilege  than  he, 
but  the  King,  unmindful  of  his  services,  refused  to  grant 
it,  for  the  alleged  reason  that  Canada  should  be  settled 
before  thinking  of  other  regions ;  and  the  new  Intendant, 
Du  Chesneau,  Talon's  successor,  was  cautioned  that  this 
must  be  the  rule  in  regard  to  all  future  discoveries.  We 
shall  see  how  well  it  was  observed.** 

Again  we  catch  a  glimpse  of  Jolliet  in  the  fall  of  1678. 
By  royal  command  a  council  was  then  held  at  the  castle 
of  St.  Louis  in  Quebec,  to  consider  the  subject  of  the 
traffic  in  brandy  with  the  Indians.  The  assembly  was 
composed  of  the  principal  officers  and  ten  of  the  oldest 
and  most  prominent  inhabitants  of  the  colony,  among 
whose  names  we  find  that  of  Jolliet.  Their  advice  was 
asked  in  turn  and  some  favored  the  traffic,  but  Jolliet 
strongly  denounced  it,  and  held  that  in  the  woods  and 
among  the  savages  it  should  be  prohibited  upon  pain  of 
death."  His  father-in-law,  Frangois  Bissot,  was  engaged 
in  trade  with  the  northern  Indians  until  his  death  in 
July,  1678.  Jolliet  was  appointed  guardian  of  his  minor 
children.  The  settlement  of  Bissot's  affairs,  perhaps, 
together  with  the  spirit  of  exploration,  led  Jolliet  to  visit 
the  Hudson's  Bay  region  in  1679,  by  way  of  the  Sag^enay 
River.  He  found  three  English  forts  on  the  bay,  occu- 
pied by  about  sixty  men,  who  had  also  an  armed  vessel  of 
twelve  guns  and  several  small  trading  craft.  The  Eng- 
lish held  out  great  inducements  to  join  them,  but  he 
declined  and  returned  by  the  following  spring  to  Quebec, 
where  he  reported  that,  unless  these  formidable  pvals 


38       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

were  dispossessed,  the  trade  of  Canada  would  be  ruined. 
In  consequence  of  this  report  some  of  the  principal  mer- 
chants of  the  colony  formed  a  company  to  compete  with 
the  English  in  the  trade  of  Hudson's  Bay.  In  the  year 
of  this  journey,  and  probably  in  consequence  thereof, 
the  government  granted  to  Jolliet  the  group  of  the  Min- 
gan  Islands,  which  stretch  along  the  north  shore  of  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  From  these  his  son,  who  suc- 
ceeded him  in  their  proprietorship,  took  his  designation, 
and  was  known  as  Jean  Baptiste  Jolliet  de  Mingan.^"* 

In  1680  the  government  presented  to  Jolliet  the  seig- 
nory  of  the  great  island  of  Anticosti,  lying  in  the  Gulf  of 
St,  Lawrence,  in  further  recognition  of  his  eminent  serv- 
ices. The  deed  of  concession  from  Jacques  Du  Chesneau, 
Intendant,  expressly  recites  that  it  is  made  in  considera- 
tion of  the  discovery  which  the  said  Sieur  Jolliet  has 
made  of  the  land  of  the  Illinois,  of  which  he  has  furnished 
a  map,  since  transmitted  to  Monseigneur  Colbert,  as  well 
as  for  the  voyage  which  he  has  just  made  to  Hudson's 
Bay  in  the  interest  and  to  the  advantage  of  the  King's 
revenue.  In  the  following  year  he  made  his  home  upon 
this  island  with  his  wife  and  six  servants,  and  built  a  fort 
and  a  dwelling  for  his  family  and  houses  for  trade.  ^  He 
engaged  in  fisheries,  and  being  a  skillful  navigator  and 
surveyor,  made  a  chart  of  the  River  St.  Lawrence.  In 
1689  he  was  again  in  the  employment  of  the  government, 
rendering  valuable  services  in  the  West.  The  next  year 
Sir  William  Phips,  on  his  way  with  an  English  fleet  to 
attack  Quebec,  made  a  descent  on  JoUiet's  establishment 
at  Anticosti,  burned  his  buildings  and  took  prisoners  his 
wife  and  his  mother-in-law.  In  1694  he  explored  the 
coast  of  Labrador  in  behalf  of  a  company  formed  for  the 
seal  and  whale  fishery.    His  journals  of  this  voyage  show 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  39 

him  to  have  been  a  man  of  close  and  intelligent  observa- 
tion and  of  considerable  mathematical  acquirements.  On 
his  reutm  Frontenac  made  him  royal  pilot  for  the  St. 
Lawrence,  and  about  the  same  time  he  succeeded  Fran- 
quelin  as  government  hydrographer  at  Quebec.  Three 
years  later,  on  April  30,  1697,  a  seignory  was  granted  him 
on  the  banks  of  the  River  Chaudiere,  which  is  still  called 
by  his  name.  He  died  in  the  year  1700,  between  May 
and  October,  probably  on  the  island  of  Anticosti,  where 
he  went  each  year  to  trade  in  peltries."^ 

Jolliet  is  not  forgotten  in  Canada.  The  esteemed  fam- 
ilies of  Tach^,  Taschereau,  D'Eschambault  and  Rigaud 
de  Vaudreuil,  among  whom  have  been  two  archbishops 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  are  proud  to  trace  their 
lineage  to  him.  His  descendants  of  the  same  name  con- 
tinue to  reside  in  his  native  land,  where  one  of  them,  the 
Hon.  Barth^lemy  Jolliet,  founded  a  town,  which,  like  the 
county  in  which  it  is  situated,  takes  its  appellation  from 
his  distinguished  ancestor.^"*  One  of  the  principal  cities 
of  the  State  of  Illinois  also  bears  his  name.  But  he 
has  not  yet  received  the  full  measure  of  honor  which  is 
his  due. 

Jolliet  was  the  foremost  explorer  of  the  Great  West, 
and  when  his  very  busy  and  useful  life  ended,  there 
passed  away  one  whose  character  and  attainments  and 
public  services  made  him  a  man  of  high  distinction  in  his 
own  day.  By  a  curious  fate  every  record  of  his  career 
was  buried  in  oblivion  for  more  than  a  century  after  his 
death,  and  such  as  are  known  have  only  slowly  come  to 
light  within  the  last  sixty  years.  He  was  thus  for  a  long 
period  of  time  deprived  of  the  fame  which  rightfully 
belonged  to  him  for  his  greatest  undertaking.  Popular 
error  assigned  the  leadership  of  the  expedition  which  dis- 


40       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

covered  the  Upper  Mississippi  and  the  Illinois  Valley  to 
Marquette,  who  never  held  or  claimed  it.  Every  relia- 
ble authority  demonstrates  the  mistake,  and  yet  the  delu- 
sion continues.  But  as  Marquette  himself  says  that 
Jolliet  was  sent  to  discover  new  countries,  and  he  to 
preach  the  gospel;  as  Count  Frontenac  reports  to  the 
home  authorities  that  Talon  selected  Jolliet  to  make  the 
discovery;  as  Father  Dablon  confirms  this  statement; 
and  as  the  Canadian  authorities  gave  rewards  to  Jolliet 
alone  and  as  the  sole  discoverer,"'  we  may  safely  conclude 
that  to  him  belongs  the  honor  of  the  achievement.  He 
actually  accomplished  that  of  which  Champlain  and 
Nicolet  and  Radisson  were  the  heralds,  and,  historically 
speaking,  was  the  first  to  see  the  wonderful  region  of  the 
prairies.  At  the  head  of  the  roll  of  those  indissolubly 
associated  with  the  land  of  the  Illinois,  who  have  trod 
its  soil,  must  forever  stand  the  name  of  Louis  Jolliet,**^ 


II.     Exploration 

Marquette's  promise  that  some  one  of  the  brethren 
should  follow  him  at  the  Illinois  mission^  did  not  long 
remain  unfulfilled.  His  predecessor  at  the  mission  on 
Lake  Superior,*  Father  Claude  Allouez,  was  his  successor 
at  that  of  Kaskaskia  on  the  upper  Illinois.  In  that  noble 
band  of  Catholic  priests  who  braved  every  hardship  to 
plant  their  faith  among  the  western  savages,  Allouez  was 
conspicuous.  Many  pages  of  the  Jesuit  relations  bear 
witness  to  the  endurance,  devotion  and  zeal  which  won 
for  him  the  title  of  Apostle  of  all  the  nations  of  the  Otta- 
was.'  Bom  at  St.  Didier  in  France  in  1613,  he  studied 
at  the  college  of  the  Jesuits  in  Le  Puy,  where  he  and  his 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  41 

elder  brother  joined  the  order.  At  Toulouse  he  passed 
his  novitiate,  and  obtained  from  his  provincial  superior, 
by  earnest  supplication,  leave  to  go  to  the  missions  of 
New  France,  which  permission  he  regarded  as  a  special 
mark  of  divine  favor.  Embarking  in  the  same  ship 
with  M.  d'Argenson,  Governor  of  Canada,  they  were 
more  than  a  year  on  the  way,  the  vessel  being  driven  into 
one  of  the  ports  of  Ireland  by  stress  of  weather  and 
obliged  to  return  to  France.  They  only  reached  their 
destination  on  July  11,  1658.*  Having  served  for  a  time 
as  superior  at  Three  Rivers,  and  applied  himself  dili- 
gently to  the  study  of  the  native  tongues,  AUouez  com- 
menced his  mission,  as  he  says,  with  one  Iroquois  whom 
he  found  wounded  and  a  prisoner  at  Montreal,  and  per- 
suaded to  pass  his  last  three  days  of  life  as  a  good  Chris- 
tian.^ In  1665  he  accompanied  a  band  of  barbarian 
Ottawas  on  their  return  from  the  settlements  to  their 
distant  homes  in  the  wilds  of  Lake  Superior,  that  he 
might  make  Christianity  known  in  that  vast  region.* 
Full  two  years  passed  before  any  word  came  from  him, 
and  he  had  been  given  up  for  lost  ^  by  his  brethren  at 
Quebec,  when  their  mourning  was  turned  to  joy  by  the 
news  of  his  safety  and  the  receipt  of  his  graphic  journal 
of  his  wondrous  experience.  From  this  it  appeared  that 
after  suffering  incredible  privations  on  his  perilous  jour- 
ney with  only  Indian  companions,  and  gross  ill  treatment 
at  their  hands,  he  had  at  length  arrived  at  the  Sault  Ste, 
Marie.  From  this  point  he  had  explored  the  whole  south 
shore  of  Lake  Superior  in  his  canoe,  instituted  the  Mis- 
sion of  the  Holy  Ghost  at  La  Pointe,  visited  the  Nipis- 
sings  on  a  lake  north  of  Superior,  and  found  consolation 
for  all  his  trials  in  the  thought  that  he  had  carried  the 
cross  to  more  than  twenty  heathen  tribes,  among  whom 


42       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

some  good  Christians  would  thereafter  shine  like  stars  in 
the  black  night  of  infidelity.* 

In  the  summer  of  1667  he  returned  to  Quebec  for  aid  in 
this  great  field,  and  remaining  but  two  days,'  embarked 
again  for  Lake  Superior  with  Father  Louis  Nicolas  and  a 
lay  brother,  and  resumed  his  noble  labor  at  La  Pointe.*" 
Two  years  later  he  made  once  more  the  long  and  weary 
journej'^  to  Quebec  to  put  into  Governor  Courcelle's  hands 
some  Iroquois  prisoners,  whom  Allouez  himself  had  ran- 
somed from  the  Ottawas,  and  to  demand  from  his  order 
more  soldiers  of  the  cross  for  his  grand  campaign."  He 
returned  with  Father  Claude  Dablon,  who  was  appointed 
Superior  of  the  Western  Mission,  and  Jacques  Marquette 
soon  followed  and  took  up  the  work  at  La  Pointe. 
Allouez  went  to  the  Lake  of  the  Illinois,  now  Lake  Mich- 
igan, whose  present  name  appears  for  the  first  time  in 
his  journal  under  the  form  of  Machihiganing,  and 
founded  at  La  Baye  des  Puans,  the  present  Green  Bay, 
the  Mission  of  St.  Frangois  Xavier  in  December,  1669. 
The  next  spring  he  journeyed  among  the  tribes  on  the 
Fox  and  Wisconsin  Rivers,  where  the  villages  of  Allouez 
and  Alloa  still  commemorate  his  name."  In  the  follow- 
ing September  he  returned  from  a  trip  to  Sault  Ste. 
.Marie  with  Dablon,  and  they  two  ascended  the  Fox  River 
to  the  country  of  the  Fire  Nation,  or  Mascoutens.  At 
the  Kakaling  rapid  on  their  way,  they  came  upon  an  idol 
of  rock  shaped  like  a  man,  decorated  and  worshiped  by 
the  savages.  The  sturdy  priests  regarded  this  as  a  visible 
sign  of  the  great  adversary,  and  hurled  it  to  the  bottom 
of  the  river  to  be  seen  no  more.**  These  visits  led  to  the 
establishment  of  the  missions  of  St.  James  among  the 
Mascoutens,  whose  village  was  near  the  site  of  Berlin,  Wis- 
<:onsin  and  of  St,  Mark  among  the  Foxes  on  Wolf  River." 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  43 

In  167 1  Allouez  was  summoned  to  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  to 
attend  the  formal  taking  possession  of  the  country  for 
France  by  St.  Lusson,  and  his  name  appears  among  the 
official  witnesses  of  that  imposing  ceremony.*^  On  this 
occasion  he  made  an  address  to  the  awe-stricken  natives, 
being  selected,  says  the  chronicler,  because  his  knowl- 
edge of  their  language  and  customs  would  enable  him  to 
give  them  an  idea  of  the  grandeur  of  that  incomparable 
monarch,  Louis  the  Fourteenth.  Allouez  justified  his 
selection  by  a  panegyric  upon  his  sovereign,  which  was 
received  by  the  assembled  warriors  with  admiration  and 
surprise  that  there  could  be  a  man  upon  earth  so  great,  so 
rich  and  so  powerful  as  the  King  of  France."  The  mis- 
sionary returned  to  his  Wisconsin  field,  raised  a  lofty 
cross  at  the  Fox  village  as  a  sign  that  he  took  pos- 
session of  the  lands  of  the  infidels  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  looked  forward  in  hope  to  the  spread  of  his 
faith  even  to  the  famous  river  named  Mississippi,  and 
perchance  as  far  as  the  South  Sea."  Hence  he  was  sum- 
moned to  the  Illinois  Mission  to  fill  the  vacancy  made  by 
the  death  of  Marquette,  and  responded  like  a  soldier  tak- 
ing the  place  of  a  comrade  fallen  in  battle."  In  the  bark 
huts  of  La  Pointe,  and  by  the  rapids  of  Sainte  Marie, 
Allouez  and  Marquette  had  planned  and  prayed  for  this 
mission  in  the  land  of  the  Illinois,  and  it  was  very  fitting 
that  one  should  succeed  the  other  there. 

Allouez  embarked  from  St.  Frangois  Xavier  in  Octo- 
ber, 1676,  with  two  companions  in  a  canoe,  intending  to 
winter  with  the  Illinois.  Soon  the  ice  which  formed  early 
in  the  season  prevented  their  progress,  and  they  were 
delayed  until  February.  Then  fitting  their  little  craft 
with  sails,  they  skimmed  the  frozen  surface  of  La  Baye 
des  Puans  in  this  improvised  ice  boar,  made  the  portage 


44       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

of  a  league  and  a  half  from  the  very  deep  bay  since 
named  Sturgeon,  and  on  the  eve  of  St.  Joseph,  the  patron 
of  all  Canada,  found  themselves  on  the  waters  of  Lake 
Michigan.  They  gave  it  the  name  of  that  great  saint, 
and  resolved  thenceforth  to  call  it  Lake  St.  Joseph,  but 
the  white  man's  baptism  proved  ineffectual,  and  never 
supplanted  the  red  man's  title.  They  advanced,  coast- 
ing along  vast  prairies  stretching  away  beyond  their 
sight,  occasionally  seeing  trees  standing  in  such  regular 
order  that  they  seemed  to  have  been  planted  to  form 
shady  alleys,  and  near  these,  little  streams  and  herds  of 
deer  feeding  quietly  on  the  young  grass.  As  the  good 
priest  gazed  at  the  shores  of  the  long-looked- for  land,  he 
tells  us  that  he  often  said,  "Benedicite  Opera  Domini 
Domino."  In  April,  1677,  the  party  entered  at  last  "the 
river  which  leads  to  the  Illinois,"  undoubtedly  the 
stream  now  flowing  through  Chicago.  Upon  the  site  of 
this  city  they  met  eighty  Indians  of  the  country,  whose 
chief  came  towards  them,  with  a  firebrand  in  one  hand 
and  in  the  other  a  feathered  calumet,  in  which  he  lit  the 
tobacco  and  presented  the  pipe  of  peace  to  the  lips  of 
Allouez,  who  was  obliged  to  pretend  to  smoke.  The 
chief  led  him  to  his  wigwam,  gave  him  the  place  of 
honor,  and  begged  him  to  go  to  the  village  of  this  band, 
which  apparently  was  at  some  distance  from  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  and  probably  near  the  portage  where  Mar- 
quette had  passed  the  winter  of  1675.^'  Allouez,  consent- 
ing, remained  with  them  a  little  time,  and  then  pushed 
on  to  his  goal  at  Kaskaskia,  the  great  town  of  the  Illi- 
nois, then  situated  about  four  miles  below  th6  present 
city  of  Ottawa  on  the  Illinois  River, ^°  which  he  reached  on 
April  27  th,  and  entered  the  cabin  in  which  Marquette 
had  lodged.     Eight  tribes  were  now  gathered  here,  who 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  45 

received  the  missionaries'  instructions  with  favor  and 
looked  on  reverently,  while  on  the  3d  of  May,  the  feast 
of  the  Holy  Cross,  he  erected  in  the  midst  of  the  town  a 
cross  twenty-five  feet  high  to  take  possession  of  these 
tribes  also  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  Allouez  had 
made  this  journey  only  to  acquire  the  necessary  informa- 
tion for  the  perfect  establishment  of  the  mission,  and 
soon  returned  to  La  Baye  des  Puans,  leaving  the  Illinois 
eager  to  see  him  again.  ^^ 

The  following  year  he  came  among  them  prepared  for 
a  two  years'  stay,  and  entered  zealously  upon  the  work  of 
the  conversion  of  these  tribes.  But,  in  1679,  he  retired 
to  his  Wisconsin  mission  upon  hearing  of  the  approach 
of  La  Salle,  who  believed  that  the  Jesuits  were  unfriendly 
to  him,  and  that  Allouez  in  particular  had  sought  to 
defeat  his  plans. ^^  This  state  of  things  illustrates  the 
change  which  was  already  occurring  in  this  newly- found 
land.  The  era  of  the  discoverer  and  the  missionary  was 
giving  place  to  that  of  the  explorer  and  the  colonist, 
whose  prototype  was  La  Salle. 

The  great  man  who  now  appears  upon  the  scene  was 
born  in  Rouen,  the  ancient  capital  of  Normandy.  A 
parish  register  there  preserved  records  the  christening- 
of  Robert  Cavelier  on  the  226.  day  of  November,  1643,  in 
the  church  of  Saint  Herbland,  which  once  stood  within  a 
stone's  throw  of  the  noble  cathedral  of  that  venerable 
city.^  It  is  supposed  that  his  family  owned  a  landed 
estate  called  La  Salle,  and  that  from  this  the  youth  took 
the  name  which  was  to  supersede  that  given  him  in  bap- 
tism.** His  full  signature  was  Robert  Ren^  Cavelier, 
Sieur  de  La  Salle,  but  he  dropped  one  appellation  after 
another  until  he  used  only  the  title  by  which  he  will  be 
forever  known,  and  signed  himself  simply  De  La  Salle.  *^ 


46      CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

At  the  age  of  twenty-three  he  came  to  Canada  and 
obtained  the  grant  of  a  seignory  on  the  island  of  Montreal 
at  the  place  afterwards  called  Lachine.  Here  he  heard 
the  Indian  tales  of  a  mighty  river  far  to  the  westward,  and 
dreamed  of  a  waterway  to  China,  and  hence  he  embarked 
in  July,  1669,  on  his  first  voyage  to  the  West,  with  two 
priests,  De  Galin^e  and  De  Casson,  from  whom  he  parted 
company  at  the  west  end  of  Lake  Ontario."*  During  the 
next  two  years  La  Salle  was  incessantly  traversing  the 
wilderness,  sometimes  with  Frenchmen,  sometimes  with 
Indians  only,  and  sometimes  alone,  "with  no  other 
guide"  says  one  who  knew  him  well,  "than  a  compass 
and  his  own  genius."  It  is  quite  certain  that  in  this 
period  he  discovered  the  Ohio  and  followed  it  to  the 
rapids  at  the  site  of  Louisville.  It  is  claimed  that  he 
discovered  the  Illinois  River  also,  and  was  the  first  of 
white  men  to  visit  the  place  where  Chicago  stands,  but 
the  evidence  does  not  warrant  this  assumption."  At  all 
events  these  explorations  revealed  to  La  Salle  the 
character  of  the  country  south  of  the  Great  Lakes,  and  it 
is  possible  that  while  engaged  in  them  he  reached  some 
portion  of  the  prairie  land.  In  his  memorial  presented 
to  the  king  in  1678,  when  he  had  himself  made  no  western 
journey,  except  in  these  years.  La  Salle  speaks  like  an 
eye-witness  of  the  region  to  the  west  and  south  of  the 
Lake  of  the  Illinois.  He  describes  it  as  "so  beautiful 
and  so  fertile,  so  free  from  forests,  and  so  well  supplied 
with  prairies,  brooks  and  rivers,  so  abounding  in  fish, 
game  and  venison,  that  one  can  find  there  in  plenty  and 
with  little  trouble  all  that  is  needed  for  the  support  of 
flourishing  colonies  there."  **  These  colonies  he  resolved 
to  plant  in  that  fair  land  and  to  win  for  France  a  new 
domain. 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS 


47 


The  Jesuits  opposed  La  Salle  because  they  wished  to 
be  both  church  and  state  among  the  natives,  and  the 
Canadian  merchants  were  hostile  because  they  desired 
a  monopoly  of  trade.  But  Count  Frontenac,  Governor 
General  of  Canada,  was  his  friend,  and  a  visit  to  France 
in  1675  secured  his  grant  of  a  seignory  at  the  entrance 
to  Lake  Frontenac,  now  Ontario."  Here  La  Salle 
built  a  stone  fort,  armed  it  with  cannon  and  named  it 
after  his  patron  Fort  Frontenac."*  From  this  point  it  is 
probable  that  in  1677  he  sent  a  party  to  obtain  informa- 
tion concerning  the  region  west  of  Lake  Michigan,  under 
the  leadership  of  Michel  Ako,  a  native  of  Poitou.  This 
hardy  explorer  visited  the  Illinois  country  in  the  spring 
of  1678,  and  thus  early  must  his  name  be  associated  with 
the  region  in  which  he  was  in  later  years  to  find  a  home.'^ 
La  Salle  made  his  new  post  the  base  of  his  operations, 
but  for  their  successful  prosecution  he  required  further 
royal  authority.  Going  again  to  France  in  the  autumn 
of  1677,  he  obtained  from  Louis  XIV  authority  to  make 
discoveries  and  to  build  forts  in  the  western  parts  of  New 
France,  through  which  it  was  believed  a  way  might  be 
found  to  Mexico.  He  returned  in  September,  1678,  with 
a  small  party  enlisted  in  his  service,  and  among  them 
was  one  man  who  was  equal  to  an  army.**  Henri  de 
Tonty,  bom  in  Italy,  but  long  a  soldier  of  France, 
became  La  Salle's  most  devoted  friend  and  most  trusted 
lieutenant,  and  deserves  to  have  a  place  in  the  annals  of 
the  West  second  only  to  that  of  his  g^eat  commander. 
Tonty's  father,  once  governor  of  the  Italian  city  of 
Gaeta,  was  concerned  with  his  son  in  a  revolt  at  Naples 
against  the  Spanish  rule.  They  took  refuge  from  polit- 
ical troubles  in  France,  where  the  elder  Tonty  became 
eminent  as  a  financier  and  originated  the  Tontine  form 


48       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

of  life  insurance  which  perpetuates  his  name.  The  son 
served  two  years  in  the  French  army  as  a  cadet,  then 
made  seven  expeditions  on  ships  of  war  and  galleys  in 
the  marine  service,  and  rejoined  the  land  forces  at  Mes- 
sina, where  he  became  lieutenant  to  the  commander  of 
twenty  thousand  soldiers.  When  the  enemy  attacked  the 
post  of  Libisso,  his  right  hand  was  shot  away  by  a  gren- 
ade, and  he  was  taken  prisoner.  Exchanged  after  six 
months  captivity,  he  went  to  France  and  received  a  grant 
of  three  hundred  livres  from  the  King.  Returning  to  the 
field  he  made  a  campaign  in  Sicily  as  a  volunteer,  and  at 
the  peace  which  soon  followed  was  deprived  of  employ- 
ment by  the  discharge  of  the  troops.  Coming  to  Paris  to 
seek  occupation,  he  attracted  the  favorable  notice  of 
Prince  Conti,  who  recommended  him  to  La  Salle.  Such, 
in  brief,  is  the  history  of  Tonty  prior  to  his  arrival  in  that 
new  world  in  which  he  was  to  play  such  a  prominent 
part."  La  Salle  lay  ill  at  Quebec  for  six  weeks  after  his 
landing,  upon  which  he  had  sent  a  canoe  express  to 
Frontenac  for  news  of  his  affairs.  It  brought  back  a 
letter  from  Michel  Ako  and  his  comrades  informing  him 
that  they  had  discovered  copper  in  their  wanderings,  and 
had  reached  the  land  of  the  Illinois  in  the  preceding 
spring,  and  had  traded  with  the  natives  for  a  quantity  of 
buffalo  skins.'*  From  his  sick  bed  he  issued  orders  for  a 
party  of  fifteen  to  set  out  in  canoes  laden  with  valuable 
merchandise,  to  go  to  the  Illinois  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Mississippi  to  establish  friendly  relations  with  those 
savages,  and  to  gather  supplies  in  anticipation  of  his  com- 
ing to  prosecute  his  discoveries.  A  second  advance  party 
was  sent  to  the  Niagara  River  under  La  Motte  de  Lus- 
siere,  another  recruit  just  arrived  from  France.  Louis 
Hennepin,  a  friar  of  the  Recollet  order,  obtained  leave 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  49 

to  go  with  them,  and  thus  became  the  first  of  Europeans 
to  behold  the  mighty  cataract  of  which  he  wrote  the  ear- 
liest published  description.  La  Salle  accompanied  by 
Tonty  soon  followed,  and  while  treating  with  the  Seneca 
Indians  for  leave  to  build  a  vessel  above  the  falls  and  a 
fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  his  pilot  disobeyed  his 
express  orders  and  caused  the  shipwreck  of  the  vessel 
containing  the  outfit  of  the  expedition.  Undismayed  by 
this  great  misfortune,  the  dauntless  leader  established  his 
second  fortified  post  upon  the  high  point  now  occupied 
by  Fort 'Niagara,  and  gave  it  the  name  of  his  friend,  the 
Prince  de  Conti.  Then  leaving  Tonty,  as  his  lieutenant, 
to  complete  the  construction  of  a  schooner  above  the 
falls,  he  returned  to  Fort  Frontenac  to  replace  the  equip- 
ment so  needlessly  destroyed,  making  the  journey  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  on  foot  in  mid-winter  over  the 
ice  of  Lake  Ontario.  His  preparations  completed,  the 
summer  of  1679  found  La  Salle  again  at  Niagara.  Tonty 
had  finished  the  vessel  which  was  named  Le  Griffon  in 
allusion  to  the  arms  of  Count  Frontenac,  which  had  two 
griffins  as  supporters.  On  August  7th  they  embarked, 
in  the  presence  of  several  Iroquois  warriors  and  their 
prisoners  just  brought  from  the  Illinois  country,  on  Lake 
Conti,  which  we  call  Lake  Erie,  in  this  tiny  craft  of 
forty-five  tons  burthen.^  She  was  the  pioneer  of  our  lake 
marine,  and  it  was  perhaps  a  prophetic  circumstance  that 
above  the  flying  griffin  on  her  prow  was  carved  an  eagle, 
the  symbol  of  the  nation  yet  unborn,  of  whose  vast  com- 
merce she  was  a  forerunner. 

Arrived  at  Mackinac,  where  Le  Grijffon  rode  at  anchor 
amid  a  hundred  bark  canoes.  La  Salle  was  extremely  dis- 
appointed at  meeting  the  greater  part  of  his  advance 
party,  whom  he  supposed  to  have  long  since  established 


50      CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

themselves  among  the  Illinois,  They  had  lost  faith  in 
the  enterprise,  and  had  halted  at  this  place,  where  they 
had  wasted  and  consumed  his  supplies,  and  six  had 
deserted,  taking  valuable  merchandise  with  them.  Two 
of  these  recreants  were  reported  to  be  at  Sault  Ste. 
Marie,  and  La  Salle  promptly  sent  Tonty  with  six  men 
in  pursuit  of  them.  Tonty,  in  his  account  of  this  expe- 
dition, says,  with  military  brevity:  "M.  de  La  Salle  sent 
me  to  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  thirty  leagues  away,  to  look 
for  the  said  deserters.  I  left  on  the  29th,  and  having 
taken  the  said  deserters  I  brought  them  with  me  to  Mis- 
sillimackinac,  where  I  arrived  the  17th  of  September." 
La  Salle  had  already  sailed,  leaving  orders  for  Tonty  to 
join  him  at  the  mouth  of  the  River  of  the  Miamis,  now  the 
St.  Joseph.  At  the  entrance  to  Green  Bay,  on  Pottawat- 
tamie Island,  inhabited  by  Indians  of  that  name.  La  Salle 
was  agreeably  surprised  to  find  Michel  Ako  with  his  party 
who  had  visited  the  Illinois  and  brought  thence  a  quan- 
tity of  valuable  peltries.  He  resolved  to  send  his  vessel 
back  in  charge  of  the  pilot  with  five  men  to  discharge 
part  of  her  cargo  at  Mackinac,  and  the  peltries  at  the 
storehouse  he  had  built  at  the  head  of  Lake  Erie,  and 
to  return  to  Mackinac,  there  to  await  his  further  direc- 
tions. On  September  i8th  Le  Griffon  fired  a  farewell 
salute,  and  with  a  favoring  breeze  from  the  west- 
ward set  sail  on  the  voyage  which  was  to  prove  her  final 
one.** 

La  Salle  pushed  on  with  fourteen  men,  among  whom 
were  the  three  friars,  Louis  Hennepin,  Zenobe  Membr^ 
and  Gabriel  de  La  Ribourde,  along  the  western  shore  of 
Lake  Michigan,  called  by  him  Lake  Dauphin.  The  party 
traveled  in  four  canoes,  which  frail  craft,  besides  the 
human  freight,  were  deeply  laden  with  a  forge  and  its 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  51 

appurtenances,  carpenter's  and  sawyer's  tools,  arms  and 
merchandise.  A  terrible  storm  at  the  outset  caused  sad 
forebodings  for  the  fate  of  the  vessel,  and  delayed  them 
for  days.  Great  gales  impeded  their  progress,  failure  of 
provisions  brought  them  almost  to  the  starvation  point, 
and  encounters  with  occasional  bands  of  Indians  com- 
pelled them  to  stand  to  their  arms  until  the  calumet 
which  the  Pottawattamies  of  Green  Bay  had  given  La 
Salle  brought  peace  and  concord.  For  a  time  they 
coasted  the  high  bluffs  which  afforded  them  hardly  a  place 
to  land,  but  as  their  little  fleet  advanced  towards  the 
south  they  found  the  country  always  more  beautiful  and 
the  climate  more  temperate,  with  a  great  abundance  of 
game.^^  They  had  reached  at  last  the  land  of  the  Illinois, 
to  which  La  Salle  probably  made  his  first  visit  in  the 
night  encampments  of  this  part  of  the  journey,  and  one 
of  these  may  well  have  been  on  the  site  of  Chicago.  At 
the  foot  of  Lake  Michigan,  they  fell  in  with  a  party  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  savages  of  the  Outagami 
tribe  from  the  Fox  River  of  Green  Bay.  Their  petty 
thefts  from  the  Frenchmen  at  night  provoked  prompt 
action  from  La  Salle,  who  seized  one  of  their  chiefs  and 
threatened  to  put  him  to  death  unless  the  stolen  goods 
were  restored.  The  savages  showed  fight,  but  quickly 
yielded  and  made  full  redress.  Then  becoming  very 
friendly,  they  urged  La  Salle  to  remain  with  them,  tell- 
ing him  that  the  Illinois  had  resolved  to  massacre  the 
French  because  their  Iroquois  prisoners  had  informed 
them  that  Frenchmen  had  counseled  the  Five  Nations 
to  make  war  on  the  prairie  tribes.  La  Salle  suspected 
that  his  enemies  were  at  work,  but  resolved  to  pursue 
his  route,  and  thanking  the  Outagamies,  told  them  that 
he  did  not  fear  the  Illinois,  and  that  he  knew  he  would 


52       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

bring  them  to  reason  by  friendship  or  by  force.  Then 
skirting  the  southern  end  of  the  lake,  he  came  on  the  ist 
of  November  to  the  river  mouth,  which  he  had  appointed 
as  the  place  of  rendezvous  with  Tonty.^ 

All  was  silent  about  the  natural  harbor  into  which  the 
St.  Joseph  flows,  and  no  sign  of  man  was  seen.  The 
trusty  lieutenant,  with  the  twenty  men,  who  were  to 
come  from  Mackinac  along  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake 
Michigan,  had  not  arrived.  La  Salle's  party  wished  to 
hasten  on  to  the  Illinois  country  before  the  approaching 
winter  set  in,  but  their  leader  would  not  desert  his  rear 
guard.  To  occupy  his  men,  he  fortified  a  triangular 
eminence  at  the  entrance  of  the  stream  with  squared 
beams  and  palisades,  naming  the  post  Fort  Miami,  and 
constructed  near  by  a  bark  chapel  for  the  priests,  and  a 
storehouse  for  the  goods  which  he  still  expected  his  ves- 
sel to  bring.  For  her  safety  he  sounded  the  channel, 
planting  at  its  approach  tall  poles  made  conspicuous  by 
bear-skin  pendants,  and  lining  its  course  with  buoys,  and 
sent  two  men  to  Mackinac  to  guide  her  to  this  haven. 
On  the  twelfth  of  the  month  Tonty  arrived  with  one-half 
of  his  companions,  leaving  the  remainder  to  secure  pro- 
visions by  hunting,  and  bringing  the  ominous  news  that 
Le  Griffon  had  not  touched  at  Mackinac,  nor  had  she 
been  heard  of  anywhere  along  the  lake.  La  Salle  lin- 
gered until  the  last  moment,  still  hoping  to  see  the  long- 
looked-for  sail  appear,  while  Tonty  went  back  for  the 
remainder  of  his  force.  ^'^ 

At  the  distance  of  eight  leagues  his  canoe  upset,  and  he 
with  his  comrades  barely  reached  the  shore.  All  their 
supplies  being  lost,  they  retraced  their  course,  and  living 
for  three  days  upon  acorns,  found  their  way  to  the  fort 
again.       Here  the  commander,  hanging  letters  to   the 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  53 

trees  with  instructions  for  the  pilot,  if  he  should  yet 
come,  reluctantly  gave  the  order  on  December  3d  to 
embark  upon  the  quiet  waters  of  the  River  of  the  Miamis. 
The  ice  beginning  to  form  in  the  stream  threatened  to 
bar  the  way  to  the  Illinois,  and  La  Salle  could  not  wait 
longer  for  Tonty's  hunting  party.  Two  of  them 
deserted,  but  the  remainder  soon  followed  the  main 
body,  which  paddled  steadily  up  the  river  seventy  miles 
or  more.  They  were  seeking  the  now  historic  portage, 
at  the  point  where  the  River  St.  Joseph,  which  has 
retained  the  name  that  Allouez  endeavored  to  confer 
upon  Lake  Michigan,  makes  its  nearest  approach,  in  its 
great  curve  from  south  to  north,  to  the  headwaters  of 
the  Kankakee.  They  went  beyond  it,  and  were  recalled 
by  the  Mohegan,  who  had  been  absent  hunting,  and 
brought  word  that  the  rest  of  Tonty's  men  were  waiting 
for  them  at  the  proper  crossing.  This  was  very  near  the 
site  of  the  present  city  of  South  Bend,  Indiana,  west  of 
which  a  little  lake  forms  one  source  of  the  Kankakee,  dis- 
tant barely  three  miles  from  the  St.  Joseph,  with  marshy 
ground  intervening.  At  this  portage  the  whole  party 
assembled,  twenty-nine  Frenchmen  in  all,  and  one  Indian 
called  Le  Loup,  the  Mohegan  hunter,  and  traversed  the 
plain  dreary  with  the  bones  and  carcasses  of  buffalo,  find- 
ing on  its  western  verge  a  mixed  village  of  savages  of  the 
Miami,  Mascouten  and  Ouiatenon  tribes.  La  Salle,  with 
pathetic  trust  in  the  coming  of  those  in  the  vessel, 
marked  their  road  and  again  left  letters  on  the  trees  at 
the  landing  place  for  their  benefit.*"  It  was  an  indication 
of  the  troubles  which  the  leader  was  to  experience  from 
some  of  his  faithless  followers,  that  as  they  were  making 
this  crossing  in  single  file,  a  man  named  Duplessis, 
marching  behind  La  Salle,  raised  his  gun  to  shoot  him, 


54       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

but  was  prevented  by  one  of  his  companions.  This 
dastardly  act,  originating  apparently  in  causeless  discon- 
tent, did  not  become  known  to  La  Salle  or  Tonty  until  a 
long  time  after." 

On  the  6th  of  December  they  were  afloat  upon  the  Kan- 
kakee branch  of  the  Illinois  River,  which  they  found  nav- 
igable for  canoes  a  hundred  paces  from  its  source.  They 
followed  it  through  vast  marshes  and  around  long  wind- 
ings which  made  a  day's  journey  but  a  few  miles  advance, 
and  saw  on  every  hand  a  wilderness  of  morass  and 
rushes.  For  many  miles  there  was  no  firm  ground  save 
an  occasional  hummock  of  frozen  earth  barely  large 
enough  for  a  sleeping  place  and  camp  fire.  When  they 
emerged  from  the  desolate  region  of  the  Kankakee 
marshes  they  found  before  them  great  open  plains  cov- 
ered with  tall  dry  grass ;  and  they  knew  that  they  had  at 
last  reached  the  true  land  of  the  Illinois,  the  prairie 
country  of  which  they  had  heard  so  much.  Their  expec- 
tations of  game  were  disappointed,  for  the  autumnal 
fires,  lit  by  the  natives  while  hunting,  had  driven  away 
the  buffalo.  In  a  journey  of  more  than  sixty  leagues 
they  shot  only  two  lean  deer,  some  swans  and  two  wild 
geese,  a  meager  support  for  so  large  a  party.  Two-thirds 
of  the  men,  dissatisfied  from  lack  of  food,  planned  to  de- 
sert and  join  the  Indians,  whom  they  saw  now  and  then 
in  the  distance  hovering  about  the  burning  prairies,  but 
La  Salle  divined  and  frustrated  the  scheme.  When  their 
need  was  sorest,  however,  they  found  an  enormous 
buffalo  mired  on  the  bank  of  the  river.  Twelve  men  with 
difficulty  dragged  the  huge  creature  to  the  solid  ground 
with  their  strongest  rope,  and  its  flesh  furnished  abun- 
dant supplies.  So  these  explorers  voyaged  on,  passing 
on  the  one  hand  the  sites  of  the  future  cities  of  Momence 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  55 

and  Kankakee,  and  on  the  other  the  inflowing  stream  of 
the  Iroquois,  a  memor}'  forever  of  those  terrible  warriors 
who  were  the  scourge  of  the  Illinois.** 

As  they  came  from  the  southeast  another  stream  from 
the  north  glided  into  the  Kankakee,  and  below  this  junc- 
tion with  the  Des  Plaines  they  were  on  the  course  of  Jol- 
liet  and  Marquette.  The  valley  before  them  was  the  bed 
of  an  ancient  river  far  greater  than  the  Illinois.  Nine 
leagues  farther  on  they  descended  a  rapid,  and  in  four 
leagues  more  they  reached  the  river  then  called  the 
Pestegonki,  and  in  modern  times  the  Fox.  The  plain  on 
which  the  city  of  Ottawa  lies  was  untenanted,  and  two 
leagfues  lower  down,  where  Buffalo  Rock  lifts  its  long 
plateau  above  the  surrounding  valley,  their  canoes  came 
to  the  shore  at  the  ancient  village  of  the  Kaskaskias, 
once  the  home  of  Marquette  and  of  Allouez.  The  latter, 
to  whom  the  news  that  La  Salle  was  on  the  way  had  been 
brought  on  Christmas  eve,  by  some  young  Indians  who 
had  met  the  party,  had  departed  with  a  wandering  band 
of  Miamis  and  Mascoutens  and  Ouiatenons.*^  The  other 
inhabitants  had  already  scattered,  and  when  La  Salle 
arrived  on  the  last  day  of  the  year**  the  village  was 
empty.  Not  a  soul  appeared  from  any  of  the  four  hun- 
dred and  sixty  lodges  which  stood  in  rows  upon  the  bank. 
These  structures,  Hennepin  says,  were  built  like  long 
arbors  covered  with  double  mats  of  flat  rushes  woven  so 
closely  that  neither  wind  nor  snow  nor  rain  could  pene- 
trate them.  Each  lodge  had  five  or  six  fires,  and  each 
fire  one  or  two  families  who  dwelt  together  in  great 
accord,  putting  to  shame  the  Christians  in  the  matter  of 
brotherly  love.*^  All  of  this  fraternal  band  had  gone  to 
the  localities  where  they  usually  passed  the  winter  in 
hunting.     They  had  left  in  their  caches  or  hiding  places 


56       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

underground  a  store  of  Indian  corn  for  seed  in  the  spring 
and  for  their  subsistence  until  the  harvest.  This  was 
very  precious  to  them,  and  no  greater  offence  could  be 
given  than  to  encroach  upon  it.  Nevertheless,  his  need 
was  so  great  that  La  Salle  resolved  to  take  thirty  minots 
from  this  sacred  hoard,  hoping  by  some  means  to  appease 
the  Illinois." 

With  this  provision  they  embarked  again  on  New 
Year's  Day,  1680,  after  Hennepin  had  celebrated  the 
mass,  and  in  touching  words,  as  he  says,  had  exhorted 
one  of  the  deserters  who  had  returned  and  the  other  mal- 
contents to  be  patient  and  trust  in  Providence,  and  had 
wished  a  Happy  New  Year  to  La  Salle  and  all  the  party, 
and  he  and  the  other  priests  had  embraced  them  all  most 
affectionately.  They  dropped  down  the  stream,  leaving 
on  the  left  hand  the  tall  cliff  which  was  to  bear  Fort  St. 
Louis  upon  its  summit,  and  be  known  in  our  day  as 
Starved  Rock,  and  the  little  lliver  Aramoni  coming  from 
the  south,  which  we  call  the  Vermilion.  For  four  days 
they  floated  onward,  rounding  the  great  bend  of  the  Illi- 
nois and  advancing  southward.  At  the  end  of  the  fourth 
day,  while  traversing  the  expanse  of  the  river  called  by 
the  savages  Pimiteoui,  that  is,  in  their  tongue;  "A  place 
where  there  is  abundance  of  fat  beasts,"  they  saw  the 
smoke  of  campfires  rising  through  the  evening  air.  At 
nine  the  next  morning,  as  they  plied  their  paddles  by  the 
shore,  they  saw  before  them  on  both  banks  of  the  river 
where  it  leaves  the  lake,  a  number  of  pirogues,  or  large 
wooden  canoes,  and  eighty  lodges  full  of  savages.  These 
did  not  perceive  the  approach  of  the  French  until  they 
had  doubled  a  point  behind  which  the  encampment  lay, 
and  bore  down  upon  the  astonished  natives,  their  fire- 
arms ready  for  action,   eight  canoes  abreast,   sweeping 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  57 

forward  on  the  swift  river  current.  Tonty  was  on  the 
left  of  the  line,  and  La  Salle  on  the  right,  who,  causing 
his  men  to  call  to  the  Indians  to  ask  whether  they  wished 
peace  or  war,  was  the  first  to  leap  ashore,  and  his  com- 
panions followed  him." 

Some  of  the  Illinois  ran  to  their  arms,  but  most  took  to 
flight  with  horrid  cries  and  howlings.  La  Salle  might 
have  reassured  them  by  showing  his  calumet,  but  feared 
this  might  be  considered  a  sign  of  weakness.  His  party 
halted,  preserving  a  warlike  attitude,  but  he  restrained 
his  men  from  attacking  the  savages  whom  they  might 
easily  have  defeated,  although  many  times  their  number. 
One  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Illinois,  who  was  on  the  other 
side  of  the  river,  perceived  that  it  was  not  the  purpose 
of  the  white  men  to  slay  them,  and  prevented  his  young 
warriors  from  discharging  their  arrows  across  the  river. 
Those  on  the  side  where  they  had  landed  sent  two  of  the 
chief  men  of  the  village  to  show  the  pipe  of  peace  from 
the  summit  of  a  hill.  This  being  graciously  accepted, 
great  joy  ensued,  and  messengers  were  sent  to  recall 
those  who  had  run  away,  but  some  had  fled  so  fast  and 
far  that  they  did  not  return  from  their  hiding  places  until 
three  days  after.  Membr^  and  Hennepin,  taking  the 
children  by  the  hand  and  going  to  the  wigwams  of  the 
parents,  aided  in  the  restoration  of  confidence,  and  when 
the  dancing  and  feasting  were  over,  made  known  to 
them  that  the  R6collets  had  come  not  to  gather  beaver, 
but  to  give  them  a  knowledge  of  the  great  Master  of 
Life,  and  to  be  of  the  number  of  their  greatest  friends. 
A  loud  chorus  of  voices  replied  "Tepatoui  Nicka,"  which 
means,  "Well,  my  brother,  my  friend,  thou  hast  done 
very  well";  and  while  some  rubbed  the  limbs  of  the 
good  priests  with  bear's  oil  and  buffalo  grease  to  relieve 


58      CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

their  fatigue,  others  presented  them  some  flesh  to  eat, 
putting  the  three  first  morsels  into  their  own  mouths  with 
much  ceremony,  which,  says  Hennepin,  is  considered  a 
great  piece  of  civility  by  them. 

La  Salle,  now  for  the  first  time  among  the  Illinois  in 
their  own  land,  proceeded  forthwith  to  hold  a  council 
with  the  head  men  summoned  from  the  two  villages  situ- 
ated on  either  side  of  the  river.  After  making  them 
presents  of  Martinique  tobacco  and  hatchets,  he  informed 
them  of  the  necessity  which  had  compelled  him  to  take 
from  their  winter  stores  the  com  which  he  still  had  in 
his  canoes.  He  offered  to  return  it,  if  it  could  not  be 
spared,  or  to  give  in  exchange  things  of  which  they  were 
in  want,  but  warned  them  that  if  they  could  not  furnish 
him  with  the  necessary  provisions,  he  must  pass  on  to 
their  neighbors  the  Osages  to  purchase  what  he  required, 
and  leave  with  them  the  blacksmith  whom  he  had 
brought  to  mend  axes  and  other  instruments  for  the  Illi- 
nois.** This  was  a  shrewd  suggestion  for  they  greatly 
needed  the  services  of  this  artificer,  nor  would  their  jeal- 
ousy permit  such  a  prize  to  go  to  another  tribe.  They 
gladly  accepted  the  payment  offered  for  their  precious 
corn,  adding  to  the  amount  already  taken,  and  prayed 
the  Frenchmen  to  establish  themselves  among  them. 
This  La  Salle  told  them  he  was  willing  to  do,  upon  the 
understanding  that  he  could  not  make  war  upon  the 
Iroquois  who  were  subjects  of  the  King  and  therefore  his 
brethren.  He  advised  the  Illinois  to  make  peace  with 
the  Five  Nations,  and  offered  his  services  to  bring  this 
about.  But  he  deftly  suggested  that  should  these  war- 
riors, despite  his  remonstrances,  come  to  attack  the 
Illinois  in  their  homes,  he  would  defend  them,  provided 
they  would  permit  him  to  build  there  a  fort  in  which  he 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  59 

would  be  able  with  his  few  Frenchmen  to  make  head 
against  the  Iroquois.  He  promised  to  furnish  them  with 
arms  and  ammunition  upon  condition  that  they  should 
use  them  only  to  repel  their  enemies  and  not  against 
those  tribes  who  were  living  under  the  protection  of  the 
King  whom  the  Indians  call  the  Great  Chief,  who  was 
beyond  the  sea.  He  added  that  their  treatment  of  his 
party  would  determine  the  coming  of  many  more  of  his 
nation,  who  would  protect  them  and  furnish  all  that  they 
needed  in  exchange  for  their  peltries;  although  the  dis- 
tance of  New  France,  the  difficult  way  by  river  and  rapid, 
the  extent  and  perils  of  the  great  lakes,  hindered  their 
bringing  goods  by  that  route.  To  overcome  this  obstacle 
he  had  resolved  to  build  a  great  canoe  to  descend  their 
river  to  the  sea,  to  obtain  more  quickly  and  more  easily 
such  merchandise  for  them.  But  as  this  work  would 
require  much  expense  and  labor,  he  wished  before  com- 
mencing it  to  ascertain  from  them  if  their  river  was 
navigable,  without  fall  or  rapid,  and  if  they  knew  whether 
other  Europeans  dwelt  at  its  mouth. 

The  Illinois  agreed  to  his  propositions,  promised  to 
satisfy  him  in  all  respects,  and  having  postponed  the 
details  of  the  affair  until  spring  when  their  chiefs  would 
reassemble,  gave  him  a  glowing  description  of  the  width 
and  beauty  and  easy  navigation  of  the  great  river  which 
La  Salle  called  the  Colbert  and  the  Meschasipi,  and  of  its 
tributaries.  They  assured  him  that  there  were  no  Euro- 
peans upon  the  river,  and  had  there  been,  they  would 
not  have  failed  to  go  to  trade  with  them  as  the  sea  was  only 
distant  twenty  days'  journey  in  their  pirogues.  Some  of 
their  slaves,  whom  they  had  taken  in  war  on  the  coast, 
said  they  had  seen  vessels  far  out  in  the  sea  which  made 
discharges  that  resembled  thunder."     This  information 


6o      CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

doubtless  increased  La  Salle's  eagerness  to  reach  the 
Gulf  before  any  other  explorer  should  discover  the  mouth 
of  the  Father  of  the  Waters,  and  as  he  lay  down  to  rest 
that  night  he  must  have  felt  that  the  events  of  his  first 
day  among  the  Illinois  had  made  easier  the  way  to  his 
wished-for  goal. 

Twenty-four  hours,  however,  brought  a  change.  The 
next  evening,  Monso,  a  chief  of  the  Miamis,  arrived  at 
the  Indian  lodges,  accompanied  by  five  or  six  young  men 
bearing  kettles,  hatchets  and  knives,  as  gifts  to  open  the 
hearts  of  the  Illinois  to  his  words.  He  assembled  their 
sachems  in  the  night,  and  assured  them  that  La  Salle 
was  going  to  join  their  enemies  on  the  banks  of  the  great 
river,  furnishing  arms  and  ammunition  in  order  to  unite 
them  with  the  Iroquois  and  surround  and  exterminate 
the  Illinois.  He  described  La  Salle  as  a  friend  of  the 
Iroquois,  in  whose  country  he  had  a  fort  and  whom  he 
supplied  with  guns  and  powder,  and  warned  his  troubled 
hearers  that  the  only  way  to  avoid  ruin  was  to  prevent  or 
delay  the  proposed  voyage  of  La  Salle,  a  part  of  whose 
men  would  soon  desert  him,  and  that  they  should  believe 
nothing  which  he  told  them.  After  saying  many  such 
things  this  emissary  of  evil  departed  before  daybreak, 
lest  his  machinations  should  be  discovered.  La  Salle's 
remarkable  influence  over  the  native  mind,  of  which  his 
career  furnishes  so  many  examples,  stood  him  in  good 
stead  here.  An  Illinois  chieftain,  named  Omoahoha, 
whom  the  French  leader  had  won  over  on  his  arrival  by 
a  present  of  hatchets  and  knives,  came  to  him  the  next 
morning  and  secretly  informed  him  of  all  that  had 
occurred.  La  Salle  thanked  him,  and  to  secure  his  con- 
tinued services  in  this  regard  made  him  a  further  gift  of 
powder  and  shot.     It  seemed  apparent  that  the  Miamis 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  6i 

had  been  instructed  and  sent  by  Frenchmen  jealous  of 
the  success  of  La  Salle ;  since  Monso  had  never  met  him, 
and  had  never  been  within  four  hundred  leagues  of  Fort 
Frontenac,  and  yet  spoke  of  both  with  the  familiarity  of 
long  acquaintance.  Later  La  Salle  received  information 
that  Monso's  party  had  been  sent  by  Allouez  from  the 
village  of  the  three  tribes  to  which  he  retired  when  he 
left  the  Kaskaskia  town,  and  thereupon  laid  this  plot  at 
the  door  of  the  Jesuits.^"  At  the  time,  however,  he  was 
uncertain  whether  the  blow  had  been  struck  by  them  or 
by  the  traders  at  Mackinac  with  whose  business  he  was 
likely  to  interfere.  He  was  much  disquieted  by  the 
affair,  knowing  the  suspicious  nature  of  the  savages,  and 
that  his  men  had  received  bad  impressions  liable  to  lead 
them  to  desert  as  their  comrades  had  done  at  Mackinac. 
There  was  little  time  to  indulge  in  foreboding,  as  the 
same  day,  after  the  noon-tide  meal.  La  Salle  and  his 
people  were  invited  to  a  feast  by  Nicanape,  brother  of 
the  head  chief  of  the  Illinois. ^^  When  the  company  were 
seated  in  their  entertainer's  wigwam,  Nicanape  made 
them  a  very  different  address  from  that  which  they  had 
heard  the  day  of  their  arrival.  He  told  them  that  he 
wished  to  cure  them  of  their  mad  desire  to  descend  the 
great  river  which  no  one  had  done  save  to  perish,  that  its 
banks  were  peopled  with  numerous  nations  who  would 
destroy  the  French,  its  water  alive  with  monsters, 
crocodiles  and  serpents,  and  its  lower  portion  full  of  falls 
and  precipices,  and  ending  in  a  gulf  where  the  stream 
disappeared  under  ground.  Two  or  three  of  La  Salle's 
men  who  understood  the  Indian  tongue  were  visibly 
affected  by  this  harangue.  Their  leader  knowing  it  was 
not  the  custom  of  the  savages  to  interrupt  such  dis- 
courses, and  that  by  doing  so  he  would  only  increase  the 


62       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

suspicions  of  his  disaffected  people,  suffered  the  dusky 
orator  to  finish  his  speech  in  peace  When  the  time 
came  to  reply,  La  Salle  calmly  assured  Nicanape  that  he 
and  his  party  were  very  much  obliged  for  the  news  he 
had  given  them,  because  they  would  win  so  much  more 
glory  as  they  found  more  difficulties  to  overcome,  that 
they  served  the  greatest  of  captains  across  the  sea,  and 
deemed  themselves  happy  to  die  in  bearing  his  name  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth.  But  he  feared  that  what  they 
had  heard  was  only  a  friendly  device  to  prevent  their 
leaving  the  Illinois,  or  rather  the  artifice  of  an  evil  spirit 
who  had  given  them  some  distrust  of  the  Frenchmen, 
and  if  the  Illinois  were  really  friendly  they  should  not 
conceal  the  grounds  of  their  disquietude  which  he  would 
endeavor  to  remove ;  otherwise  there  would  be  reason  to 
believe  that  their  professed  friendship  was  of  the  lips 
only.  Nicanap^  made  no  answer,  and  changed  the  sub- 
ject by  presenting  food  to  his  guests  *^ 

After  the  barbaric  feast  was  over,  La  Salle  resumed 
his  discourse,  and  told  the  listening  redskins  that  he  did 
not  wonder  that  their  neighbors  were  jealous  of  the 
advantages  which  trade  with  the  French  would  bring 
them,  nor  that  reports  should  be  spread  to  his  disadvan- 
tage, but  he  was  surprised  that  the  Illinois  should  give 
these  credence  and  conceal  them  from  a  man  who  had  so 
frankly  revealed  all  his  plans  to  them.  Then  addressing 
himself  directly  to  Nicanap^,  and  overwhelming  the 
astonished  savage  by  his  unsuspected  knowledge  of  the 
intrigue,  he  cried;  "I  was  not  asleep,  my  friend,  when 
Monso  spoke  to  you  at  night  and  in  secret  to  the  prejudice 
of  the  French,  whom  he  represented  to  you  as  spies  of  the 
Iroquois .  The  presents  which  he  made  to  persuade  you 
to  believe  his  lying  tales  are  still  hidden  under  the  earth 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  63 

in  this  wigwam.  Why  did  he  take  to  flight  immediately- 
after?  Why  did  he  not  speak  by  daylight,  if  he  had  only 
the  truth  to  tell?  Do  you  not  see  that  when  I  came 
among  you  I  could  have  slain  your  people,  and  in  the 
confusion  of  your  camp  could  have  done  alone  what  he 
would  persuade  you  I  will  accomplish  with  the  aid  of  the 
Iroquois?  At  this  ver)^  hour  could  not  my  party  put  to 
death  you  old  men  while  your  young  men  are  away  htmt- 
ing?  Do  you  not  know  that  the  Iroquois  whom  you  fear 
have  experienced  the  valor  of  the  French,  and  that  we 
should  not  need  their  aid  if  we  wished  to  make  war  on 
you?  But  to  satisfy  you  entirely,  run  after  this  man 
while  I  wait  here  to  convict  and  confound  him.  How 
does  he  know  me,  since  he  has  never  seen  me,  and  how- 
does  he  know  the  plots  which  he  says  I  have  formed  with 
the  Iroquois  whom  he  knows  as  little  as  he  does  me? 
Look  at  our  stores.  They  are  only  tools  and  merchandise 
which  we  can  use  simply  to  do  you  good,  but  neither  for 
attack  nor  retreat. '  ''^ 

This  bold  stroke  made  La  Salle  master  of  the  situation. 
The  natives  sent  runners  after  Monso  to  bring  him  back, 
but  the  snow  which  had  fallen  heavily  the  night  before 
covered  his  footprints  and  prevented  their  overtaking 
him.  This  was  fortunate  for  the  unsuccessful  ambassa- 
dor, since  the  Illinois  were  so  incensed  against  him  that 
they  would  have  slain  him,  had  he  fallen  into  their  hands. 
This  danger  averted,  the  cloud  lifted,  but  only  for  a  day. 
The  following  night,  six  of  the  Frenchmen,  who  were  on 
guard,  deserted  their  comrades  and  fled  into  the  wilder- 
ness.** It  is  almost  incredible  that  they  should  have 
taken  this  desperate  step  without  some  assurance  of  pro- 
tection and  aid,  which  they  may  have  had  from  the  same 
agency  which  sent  Monso  to  the  lodges  of  the  Illinois. 


64       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

He  certainly  was  advised  of  the  approaching  desertion 
when  he  came  there,  and  it  is  possible  that  the  returned 
runaway  whom  Hennepin  found  in  camp  on  New  Year's 
Day  was  the  medium  of  communication  between  La 
Salle's  enemies  and  his  dissatisfied  men.^*  At  all  events 
this  recreant  band  followed  the  route  which  Monso  had 
taken  the  preceding  night,  with  the  purpose  of  finding 
shelter  in  his  village,  either  of  their  own  motion,  or 
because  of  some  invitation  secretly  given  to  them.^®  Their 
farewell  piece  of  malignity  was  the  putting  of  some 
noxious  compound  into  La  Salle's  camp  kettle,  by  which, 
upon  taking  his  soup  next  day,  he  was  so  poisoned  that 
most  alarming  symptoms  followed.  His  life  was  saved 
by  an  antidote  which  a  friend  had  given  him  in  France." 
One  of  the  comrades  of  the  deserters  states  that  they 
departed  because  La  Salle  wished  to  make  them  con- 
struct sledges  to  draw  his  merchandise  and  stores  to  the 
Illinois  village,  apparently  that  at  which  they  had 
obtained  the  supplies  of  com.  But  this  is  probably  a 
mere  excuse.  He  gives  their  names  as  Chartier,  Bari- 
bault,  Lacroix,  Duplessis,  Monjault,  and  La  Rousseli^re.^ 
Duplessis  was  the  would-be  assassin  of  La  Salle  at  the 
Kankakee  portage,^'  and  La  Rousseli^re  was  one  of 
the  two  deserters  at  Mackinac  who  were  brought  back 
from  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie  by  Tonty.*"  Willingly  would 
that  fearless  soldier  have  gone  on  their  trail  again,  and 
compelled  the  return  of  the  whole  party,  or  punished 
them  as  they  deserved,  but  the  danger  of  revealing  their 
disunion  to  the  savages  forbade.  This  defection  was  a 
sore  blow  to  La  Salle,  and  when,  in  the  gray  of  the 
morning  he  made  the  rounds  of  the  encampment  and 
found  no  sentry  at  his  post,  and  the  quarters  of  these 
men  empty,  he  might  well  have  despaired  of  his  under- 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  65 

taking.  But  he  bore  up  bravely  and  forthwith  aroused 
his  remaining  followers,  and  informing  them  of  what  had 
happened,  directed  that  they  should  pretend  to  the 
natives  that  it  was  by  his  order  that  these  persons  had 
gone  in  pursuit  of  the  lying  Monso,  and  that  he  had 
caused  them  to  do  so  by  night,  lest  some  one  of  the 
Illinois  should  precede  them  to  warn  the  fugitive.  Then 
he  begged  them  to  pay  no  attention  to  the  tales  of  Nica- 
nape,  and  gave  them  his  word  that  all  who  desired  should 
return  to  Canada  in  the  spring  safely  and  in  good  repute, 
while  if  they  left  him  then,  it  would'  be  at  the  peril  of 
their  lives  and  of  punishment  on  their  arrival  at  Que- 
bec." They  seemed  but  faint-hearted,  however,  and, 
realizing  the  little  dependence  that  could  be  placed  upon 
them,  he  determined  to  separate  them  from  the  Indians 
that  he  might  have  them  under  better  control.  Without 
the  two  pit  sawyers  who  were  among  the  deserters  it  was 
hardly  possible  to  construct  a  vessel  to  go  to  the  sea,  and 
it  seemed  wisest  to  establish  a  fortified  post  at  once.  To 
this  end  La  Salle  told  his  men  that  they  were  in  danger 
while  among  the  Illinois  of  an  attack  from  the  Iroquois, 
who  would  surely  vent  their  rage  upon  the  French,  and 
that  their  only  safeguard  was  to  entrench  themselves  in 
some  position  easy  of  defence,  such  as  the  one  he  had 
found  near  at  hand.  His  arguments  convinced  them, 
and  they  undertook  with  a  good  grace  a  task  very  severe 
for  so  small  a  company  *^ 

The  spot  which  La  Salle  had  chosen  was  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Illinois  River  about  two  and  a  half  miles 
below  its  exit  from  Pimiteoui  Lake.*'  A  great  thaw 
which  fortunately  set  in  opened  the  river  from  the  lake 
to  the  place  selected,  whither  the  party  went  with  all 
their   canoes   on   the  evening  of  the    15th   of  January, 


66       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

1680.  It  was  a  Ibw  hill  a  little  more  than  a  mile  from 
the  Indian  village,  two  hundred  paces  distant  from  the 
bank  of  the  river  which  spread  to  its  foot  in  the  time  of 
heavy  rains.  Two  ravines,  broad  and  deep,  encompassed 
two  other  sides,  and  half  of  the  fourth,  the  protection  of 
which  was  completed  by  a  trench  which  joined  the 
ravines.  Their  outer  slopes  which  served  as  a  counter- 
scarp were  bordered  with  stout  chevaux  de  frise.  All 
sides  of  the  hill  were  made  more  steep,  and  the  earth 
from  the  trench  was  used  for  a  parapet  on  the  summit 
capable  of  covering  a  man.  Heavy  timbers  were  joined 
around  the  lower  part  of  the  elevation  in  which  were  set 
upright  joists  united  by  cross  pieces  mortised  into  beams 
projecting  from  the  thickness  of  the  parapet.  Thus 
substantial  walls  were  made  in  front  of  which  were 
planted  pointed  stakes  twenty-five  feet  high,  one  foot  in 
diameter,  buried  three  feet  in  the  earth  and  bolted  to 
cross  pieces  from  the  tops  of  the  joists,  the  whole  com- 
posing a  formidable  palisade.  The  interior  of  the  fort 
thus  constructed  was  an  irregular  square.  In  two  of  the 
angles  protected  by  logs  thick  enough  to  be  shot-proof 
were  the  quarters  of  the  men,  and  the  R^collet  friars 
occupied  a  cabin  covered  with  boards  in  the  third.  The 
magazine,  solidly  built,  and  the  forge,  were  placed  in 
the  fourth  angle  along  the  side  which  looked  towards  the 
forest.  In  the  center  were  pitched  the  tents  of  Tonty 
and  La  Salle." 

Thus  was  completed  the  fourth  of  that  chain  of  for- 
tresses between  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Gulf  of  Mex- 
ico, which  La  Salle's  far-reaching  plans  contemplated. 
To  Fort  Frontenac  on  Lake  Ontario  and  Fort  Conti  on 
the  River  Niagara  and  Fort  Miami  was  added  Fort 
Crbvecoeur  on    the    Illinois.     Its   construction    further- 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  67 

more  signalized  the  establishment  of  white  men  upon 
the  soil  of  Illinois,  in  whose  history  the  date  of  January 
15,  1680,  when  La  Salle's  party  assembled  at  the  site 
of  this  fort  to  undertake  its  erection  thus  marks  an  era. 
It  was  named  Crfevecoeur,  for  other  than  the  romantic 
reason  usually  given  for  the  title.  It  is  true  that  the 
R^collet  friar,  Christian  Le  Clercq,  who  was  not,  how- 
ever, of  the  party,  in  his  "First  Establishment  of  the 
Faith  in  New  France,"  published  in  1691,  says,  La  Salle 
called  the  fort  Crevecoeur  on  account  of  many  vexations 
experienced  there,  adding  that  these  never  shook  his 
firm  resolve ;  and  that  Hennepin  in  his  New  Discovery, 
published  in  1698,  says,  they  named  it  the  fort  of  Crbve- 
coeur  because  the  desertion  of  their  men  and  the  many 
other  difiSculties  they  labored  under  had  almost  broken 
their  hearts.*®  But  on  the  other  hand,  Hennepin  in  his 
earlier  and  more  reliable  Description  of  Louisiana,  pub- 
lished in  1683,  does  not  give  this  reason;  Tonty  does  not 
mention  it  in  either  of  his  authentic  accounts  of  the  fort 
dated  in  1684  and  1693;  and  La  Salle  himself,  although 
frequently  alluding  to  Crevecoeur  in  his  letters,  one 
written  in  the  year  of  its  building,  never  gives  this  mean- 
ing to  the  name."*  John  Gilmary  Shea  suggests  that  as 
Louis  XIV  had  recently  demolished  Fort  Crevecoeur,  a 
stronghold  in  the  Netherlands  near  Bois  le  Due,  captured 
by  him  in  1672,  the  name  may  have  been  a  compliment 
to  that  monarch,  and  this  view  is  strengthened  by  the 
researches  of  H.  A.  Rafferman  who  has  found  proof  that 
Tonty  had  taken  part  in  the  capture  of  the  Netherland 
Crevecoeur."  So  La  Salle's  faithful  lieutenant  may 
have  named  it  from  the  scene  of  his  service.  Or,  as  it 
was  furthermore  a  name  of  high  renown  among  the 
ancient  nobility  of  France,  it  may  have  been  selected  by 


68       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

La  Salle,  like  that  of  Fort  Conti,  in  compliment  to  one  of 
his  noble  friends  at  court.  Certainly  there  is  no  likeli- 
hood that  such  a  leader  under  such  circumstances  would 
have  further  discouraged  his  followers  by  thus  emphasiz- 
ing his  misfortunes  which  were  not  so  great  to  him  then 
as  they  afterwards  became.  It  has  been  thought  that  La 
Salle  was  now  convinced  of  the  loss  of  his  vessel,  and  so 
was  broken  hearted."  But  he  was  not  in  fact  hopeless  in 
regard  to  her  at  this  time,  and  did  not  abandon  all  expec- 
tation of  seeing  her  again,  until  months  after  this  period. 
The  weight  of  the  evidence  seems  to  be  against  the  com- 
mon theory  in  regard  to  the  origin  of  this  name. 

While  the  work  on  the  fort  was  progressing  La  Salle 
again  turned  his  thoughts  to  the  construction  of  a  vessel 
to  descend  the  Mississippi.  As  it  would  cause  the  loss  of 
a  year's  time  to  wait  for  other  pit  sawyers  from  Mon- 
treal, he  said  to  his  men  that  if  one  of  them  would 
attempt  to  cut  plank  he  would  assist.  Two  volunteered 
and  succeeded  so  well,  that  the  building  of  a  vessel  of 
forty-two  feet  keel,  and  twelve  feet  beam  was  undertaken 
and  pushed  so  rapidly  that  all  the  planks  were  sawed,  all 
the  wood  ready,  and  the  vessel  on  the  stocks  and  sheathed 
to  the  string  piece  by  the  ist  of  March.®*  She  needed 
iron  and  cordage  and  sails  which  could  only  be  obtained 
from  Le  Griffon,  if  she  were  still  afloat,  or  Fort  Fron- 
tenac.  La  Salle  resolved  to  undertake  the  long  journey 
to  the  latter  place  to  obtain  tidings  of  his  bark  and  sup- 
plies for  his  expedition,  leaving  Tonty  in  command  at 
Crevecceur.  But  first  he  earnestly  desired  to  restore 
the  spirits  of  his  men  who  were  still  cast  down  by  the 
accounts  the  natives  had  given  them  of  the  dangers  of 
the  Mississippi  voyage.  Fortune  favored  him  by  an 
encounter  with  a  young  Illinois  warrior  on  the  way  to 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  69 

the  village  in  the  advance  of  a  war  party  returning  from 
the  Gulf.  La  Salle,  while  shooting  wild  turkeys  two 
leagues  from  the  fort,  fell  in  with  this  herald  and  gave 
him  a  turkey,  which  the  hungry  savage  proceeded  at 
once  to  boil  in  the  kettle  which  he  carried  with  him. 
While  his  meal  was  preparing,  the  shrewd  Frenchman 
questioned  him  about  the  Mississippi,  assuming  to  have 
a  general  knowledge  of  the  subject.  The  unsuspicious 
Indian  drew  a  map  of  the  great  river  and  its  tributaries 
with  charcoal  upon  birch  bark,  said  that  he  had  traversed 
it  throughout  in  his  pirogue,  and  that  as  far  as  the  sea 
there  was  neither  fall  nor  rapid,  and  gave  the  names  of 
the  tribes  who  dwelt  near  it.  La  Salle,  by  the  present 
of  a  hatchet,  bound  him  to  secrecy  as  to  their  meeting, 
and  took  him  to  the  fort  to  spend  the  following  day. 
Early  in  the  morning  the  French  leader  appeared  at  the 
Indian  village  and  found  that  one  of  their  principal  men 
was  -  giving  a  feast  of  bear's  meat,  to  which  he  was 
invited.  As  they  were  assembled  for  this  purpose  in  a 
lodge,  he  arose  in  their  midst  and  smilingly  informed 
them  that  the  Providence  which  watched  over  his  party 
had  at  his  prayer  revealed  to  him  the  truth  concerning 
the  grand  river,  the  streams  which  fell  into  it,  and  the 
nations  living  along  its  banks.  Then  he  launched  into 
the  description  which  he  had  only  received  the  evening 
before,  and  as  the  wondering  natives  marked  its  accuracy 
from  point  to  point,  they  placed  their  hands  upon  their 
mouths  in  token  of  admiration,  and  at  its  close  freely 
admitted  its  correctness,  and  that  they  had  concealed  the 
truth  in  order  to  keep  the  white  men  always  with  them.'" 
This  put  a  little  heart  into  La  Salle's  men,  who  were 
still  further  encouraged  by  the  corroborating  testimony 
of  savages  from  other  tribes  who  now  began  to  arrive  at 


7©       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

the  little  timber  fortress  on  the  banks  of  the  Illinois. 
Strange  news  traveled  fast  even  through  the  wilderness, 
and  in  hardly  more  than  a  month  from  the  arrival  of  the 
Frenchmen  at  Pimiteoui,  tidings  of  their  coming  had 
reached  the  Chickasaws,  the  Arkansas  and  the  Osages  in 
the  south,  and  .bands  from  all  of  these  nations  had  set 
up  their  wigwams  around  Fort  Cr^vecoeur.  Although 
their  speech  differed  from  that  of  the  Illinois,  their  sign 
language  easily  made  it  plain  that  the  g^eat  river  was 
navigable,  and  that  the  strangers,  whose  approach  had 
been  made  known  everywhere,  would  be  well  received 
along  its  shores.  La  Salle  gave  them  all  presents,  and 
promised  to  bring  an  abundance  of  hatchets,  knives, 
needles  and  awls  to  them  and  their  neighbors  to  whom 
he  sent  this  good  news.  They  departed  well  satisfied, 
earnestly  assuring  their  generous  host  of  a  cordial  wel- 
come to  the  expedition  when  it  should  reach  their  ter- 
ritories." 

A  few  days  later  a  more  remarkable  embassy  arrived, 
consisting  of  two  chiefs  of  a  people  calling  themselves 
the  Matoutentas  who  lived  a  hundred  leagues  toward  the 
sunset.  One  of  them  wore  at  his  belt  a  horse's  foot, 
taken,  he  said,  in  a  country  five  days*  journey  west  of  his 
home,  where  the  inhabitants  fought  on  horseback,  had 
lances  and  wore  long  hair,  unlike  the  Illinois  whose  locks 
were  closely  shorn.  These  chiefs  were  probably  from 
one  of  the  villages  of  the  Mandans  on  the  Missouri  River, 
and  the  equestrian  warriors  of  whom  they  spoke  were 
one  of  the  mounted  tribes  of  the  great  plains,  or  the 
Spaniards  of  New  Mexico  as  the  French  believed.  They 
also  had  heard  of  the  white  men  and  wished  to  gaze  upon 
their  faces  and  to  receive  gifts  of  their  wonderful  imple- 
ments of  iron  and  steel.     But  a  week  behind  these  dele- 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  71 

gates  from  the  west  came  others  from  the  far  north,  who 
dwelt  near  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi  and  were  spoken 
of  as  the  Chaa,  which,  perhaps,  is  a  variation  of  an 
Algonquin  name  for  the  Sioux.  They  invited  the  party 
to  visit  their  country,  whose  attractions,  as  they  alleged, 
were  a  wealth  of  beaver  and  other  furs,  and  its  nearness 
to  the  western  sea." 

Almost  at  the  same  time  the  advent  of  the  Miamis,  the 
new  neighbors  of  the  Illinois  on  the  east,  in  pacific  gfuise 
brought  relief  to  La  Salle  and  his  allies.  These  Indians, 
of  the  same  stock  as  the  Illinois  and  speaking  almost  the 
same  tongue,  formerly  established  on  the  Fox  River  of 
Wisconsin,  had  fled  across  the  Mississippi  through  fear 
of  the  Iroquois,  and  had  been  at  enmity  with  the  Illinois. 
An  advance  party  had  removed  to  the  River  St.  Joseph, 
and  the  main  body  were  preparing  to  follow.  In  their 
new  home  they  were  exposed  to  the  machinations  of  the 
Iroquois  incited  by  La  Salle's  enemies.  Fears  of  their 
hostility  had  been  increased  by  the  Monso  incident,  but 
were  now  allayed  by  their  willingness  to  be  friends.  The 
two  tribes  joined  in  the  calumet  or  peace  dance,  and 
formed  a  league  against  the  Iroquois,  which  La  Salle 
confirmed  by  presents  to  both  parties."  This  surprising 
concourse  of  representatives  of  so  many  nations,  so 
quickly  assembled  from  all  points  of  the  compass,  amen- 
able to  control  and  eager  to  trade,  must  have  greatly 
encouraged  La  Salle  in  his  plans  for  commercial  and 
political  supremacy  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  The 
picturesque  gathering  around  Fort  Cr^vecoeur  indicated 
what  might  take  place  at  each  of  the  points  he  desired  to 
occupy,  if  fortune  would  but  favor  the  brave  and  the 
deserving. 

The  priests  during  the  construction  of  the  fort  had  had 


72       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

public  prayers  in  their  cabin  every  morning  and  evening, 
and  held  mission  services  for  the  French  and  the  Illinois 
Indians  who  came  in  crowds,  but  the  lack  of  wine  pre- 
vented the  celebration  of  the  mass.  Father  Membre 
made  his  headquarters  at  the  Indian  village  near  by 
where  the  chief,  named  Oumahouha  or  the  Wolf,  had 
lodged  him  and  considered  him  as  one  of  his  children, 
his  paternal  affection  being  quickened  by  a  timely  pres- 
ent of  three  axes  from  La  Salle,  given  to  secure  attention 
to  the  wants  of  his  adopted  son.  Membre  desired  to 
have  the  mission  to  the  Illinois,  that  he  might  convert 
that  numerous  nation  comprising  by  his  estimate  some 
seven  or  eight  thousand  souls.  He  rapidly  acquired 
their  language,  but  his  first  experience  of  their  ways 
almost  changed  his  resolve  to  live  among  them.^*  Father 
Ribourde  preferred  to  stay  at  the  fort, ^*  while  for  Henne- 
pin another  destiny  was  preparing.  The  cunning  sav- 
ages from  the  upper  Mississippi  had  either  met  with 
French  explorers  before,  or  very  quickly  divined  that 
trade  and  discovery  were  their  ruling  motives.  The 
peltries  and  the  route  to  the  western  ocean,  which  they 
promised  to  visitors  to  their  land,  were  temptations  too 
strong  to  be  resisted.  La  Salle  determined,  while  he 
himself  was  absent  on  his  necessary  journey  to  and  from 
Fort  Frontenac,  to  send  a  party  to  their  homes,  and  it 
was  decided  that  Hennepin  should  be  one  of  the  number. 
The  leader  of  the  expedition  was  Michel  Ako,  a  native 
of  Poitou  in  France,  of  whom  we  shall  hear  more  in  con- 
nection with  the  early  days  of  Illinois,  and  with  him  was 
Antony  Augpuel,  of  the  province  of  Picardy,  surnamed 
Le  Picard  du  Gay.  They  were  two  of  La  Salle's  best 
and  bravest  men.''  Ako  was  fairly  versed  in  the  language 
of  the  Illinois  and  of  the  Sioux,  and  had  successfully 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  73 

executed  various  commissions  among  the  natives  for  La 
Salle,  who  describes  him  as  prudent,  brave  and  cool.  To 
him  was  entrusted  goods  worth  a  thousand  livres,  of  the 
kind  most  esteemed  among  the  savages,  and  the  invalu- 
able calumet  as  a  protection  and  a  token  of  their  peaceful 
purpose."  La  Salle  tells  us  simply,  but  with  perhaps  a 
touch  of  sarcasm,  that  Hennepin  offered  to  make  this 
voyage  to  gain  the  opportunity  of  carrying  the  gospel  to 
the  peoples  who  had  never  heard  it,  and  to  make  the 
acquaintance  of  those  among  whom  he  expected  soon  to 
establish  himself  to  preach  the  faith. '^^  But  the  voluble 
priest  himself  informs  us  fully  of  the  diflSculty  with  which 
he  was  brought  to  this  laudable  resolution.  After  La 
Salle  had  arranged  for  his  going,  he  offered  to  take 
Membr^'s  place  among  the  Illinois,  while  the  latter 
should  go  in  his  stead  to  the  upper  Mississippi.  Mem- 
bra, however,  prudently  decided  that  he  would  rather 
bear  the  ills  he  had  than  fly  to  the  Sioux  whom  he 
knew  not  of.  Hennepin  then  concluded  that  an  affection 
of  the  gums  which  had  troubled  him  for  a  year  or  more 
had  become  so  serious  that  he  was  obliged  to  return  to 
Canada  to  be  cured,  and  suggested  that  he  should  go  and 
come  back  with  La  Salle. "  But  his  inflexible  commander 
replied,  that  if  he  refused  to  make  the  voyage,  his  cler- 
ical superiors  would  be  informed  that  he  was  the  cause  of 
the  want  of  success  of  the  new  missions.  The  venerable 
Ribourde,  who  had  been  his  master  during  his  novitiate 
in  the  convent  of  Bethune  in  the  province  of  Artois,  and 
who  volunteered  to  come  and  aid  him  the  next  year, 
begged  him  to  proceed,  saying  that  if  he  died  of  his 
infirmity  God  would  be  one  day  glorified  by  his  apostolic 
labors ;  and  that  he  would  have  many  monsters  to  over- 
come and  precipices  to  pass,  and  knew  not  a  word  of  the 


74       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

language  of  the  nations  whom  he  was  going  to  try  to  win 
to  God,  but  with  courage  he  would  gain  as  many  victories 
as  combats.  Hennepin  yielded  to  this  advice,  to  the  sat- 
isfaction of  La  Salle,  who  gave  him  for  his  own  use  a 
small  supply  of  knives,  awls,  tobacco,  beads  and  needles, 
assuring  him  that  he  would  have  given  more  had  he  been 
able.  All  of  their  companions  escorted  the  travelers  to 
the  place  of  embarkation.  Father  Gabriel  gave  his  bless- 
ing in  the  words  of  Scripture ;  "Be  of  good  courage  and 
let  your  heart  be  comforted" ;  the  farewells  were  spoken, 
and  the  reluctant  apostle  took  his  place  in  the  canoe  which 
quickly  disappeared  down  the  river.*" 

The  party  left  Fort  Crfevecoeur  on  February  29,  1680, 
and  toward  evening  met  a  number  of  the  Illinois  return- 
ing to  the  village  in  their  pirogues  loaded  with  buffalo 
meat.  They  used  every  effort  to  induce  the  trio  to  turn 
back.  The  Picard  would  have  yielded,  but  Ako,  who 
deemed  his  honor  pledged  to  carry  out  the  enterprise, 
seconded  by  Hennepin,  resolutely  proceeded  on  his 
way.  They  likened  the  Illinois  River,  to  which  La  Salle 
had  given  the  name  of  Seignelay,  in  honor  of  the  son-in- 
law  and  successor  of  the  great  minister  Colbert,  to  the 
Seine  at  Paris  in  width  and  depth.  Its  bordering  hills 
covered  with  fine  trees,  and  occasionally  separated  by 
marsh  land,  they  climbed  to  behold  from  their  summits 
prairies  extending  further  than  the  eye  could  reach, 
studded  at  intervals  with  groves  seemingly  planted  in 
regular  order."  About  five  miles  from  its  mouth  on  the 
7th  of  March  they  met  the  tribe  of  the  Tamaroa  Indians, 
to  the  number  of  two  hundred  families  or  more,  who 
wished  to  take  them  to  their  village  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  some  sixteen  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Illinois.     When  they  declined,   these  savages  believing 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  75 

that  they  carried  supplies  to  their  enehiies  pursued  them 
in  their  heavy  wooden  pirogues.  Unable  to  overtake  the 
lighter  craft  of  birch  bark,  they  sent  some  of  their  young 
men  by  land  to  waylay  the  white  men  at  a  narrow  part  of 
the  river.  But  the  wary  Ako,  noticing  the  smoke  of  the 
encampment  where  these  warriors  lay  ready  to  discharge 
a  shower  of  arrows,  crossed  the  stream  to  an  island  on 
the  other  side,  and  halted  to  rest,  trusting  to  the  watch- 
fulness of  a  little  dog  they  had  brought  with  them,  to 
apprise  them  if  the  savages  attempted  to  swim  across. 
The  next  day  they  came  to  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois,  and 
noted  in  the  angle  on  its  south  side  a  flat  precipitous  rock 
forty  feet  in  height,  very  well  suited  for  building  a  fort,*^ 
which  La  Salle  afterwards  planned  to  do;*'  and  on  the 
opposite  shore  fields  as  it  were  of  black  earth,  all  ready 
for  cultivation  and  very  advantageous  for  the  existence  of 
a  colony.  The  floating  ice  detained  them  here  until 
March  1 2th,  when  they  turned  the  prow  of  their  canoe 
into  the  Mississippi  and  commenced  its  ascent.  As  they 
followed  the  great  windings  of  the  mighty  river,  paddling 
against  its  powerful  current,  they  observed  the  bluffs  on 
either  side  approaching  the  banks  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Illinois,  and  elsewhere  receding,  leaving  great  open 
meadows  between  them  and  the  river.  These  were  cov- 
ered with  an  infinite  number  of  buffalo ;  and  the  whole 
country  beyond  the  bluffs  seemed  so  fine  and  pleasant 
that  Hennepin  says,  one  might  justly  call  it  the  Delight 
of  America."  With  this  compliment  to  the  land  of  the 
Illinois,  the  vain,  good  -  natured  and  sadly  unreliable 
friar  passes  beyond  its  confines  and  ceases  to  be  con- 
nected with  its  story.  We  need  not  follow  him  in  his 
adventures  among  the  Sioux  with  whom  Ako  remained 
for  a  time,  ultimately  returning  to  the  Illinois  country. 


76       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

while  Hennepin  and  Du  Gay  made  their  way  to  Canada, 
and  thence  returned  to  France. 

On  the  I  St  of  March,  the  day  after  the  departure  of 
Ako's  party  for  the  Upper  Mississippi,  La  Salle  himself 
set  out  for  Frontenac  with  six  of  his  strongest  French- 
men, and  a  savage  called  the  Wolf,*^  in  two  canoes.  The 
rapid  current  kept  the  river  free  from  ice  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Cr^vecoeur,  but  an  hour's  paddling  brought 
them  to  the  frozen  waters  of  Pimiteoui  Lake.  They 
could  not  abandon  their  canoes,  since  the  careful  leader 
designed  to  send  these  back  filled  with  corn,  and  there- 
fore built  two  sledges  on  which  they  placed  the  canoes 
and  lading  and  dragged  them  over  the  snow  for  fifteen 
miles  or  more.  La  Salle  encouraged  his  men  with  the 
hope  of  open  water  at  the  end  of  the  lake,  but  with  keen 
disappointment  they  found  the  ice  there  and  beyond  too 
weak  to  bear  their  weight,  and  too  strong  for  their  bark 
canoes  to  sever.  After  a  desolate  night's  encampment 
they  took  up  their  line  of  march  through  the  leafless 
woods  on  the  river  bank,  and  toiled  onward,  mid-leg  deep 
in  snow,  carrying  their  canoes  and  equipage  for  four 
leagues  or  more.  This  dreary  day's  journey  brought 
them  at  evening  to  some  deserted  Indian  cabins,  where 
they  thankfully  took  shelter  from  a  heavy  rain  which  fell 
all  night.  The  third  day  they  were  able  to  navigate  the 
river  for  four  hours,  occasionally  breaking  their  way  with 
poles  through  frozen  places  until  they  encountered  ice  a 
foot  in  thickness,  so  rough  and  full  of  air  holes  as  to  be 
impassable.  Another  detour  of  two  leagues  of  sledging 
over  icebound  marshes  ended  at  a  point  where  the  flow- 
ing current  permitted  another  embarkation.  In  the  after- 
noon masses  of  drifting  ice  obliged  them  to  land  from 
time  to  time  till  these  passed  by,  and  nightfall  compelled 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  77 

another  wintry  camp  in  the  forest.  The  following  morn- 
ing they  made  a  portage  of  half  a  league,  continued  their 
route  b)^  a  side  channel  for  two  leagues  more,  sometimes 
rowing,  sometimes  parting  the  ice  by  dint  of  sturdy  blows 
from  hatchet  and  club,  and  sometimes  wading  knee  deep 
in  the  icy  stream,  towing  their  canoes.  Then  they 
resumed  their  toilsome  progress  with  the  sledges  until 
the  evening  of  the  5th,  when  a  snowstorm  set  in  which 
caused  a  three  days'  halt.  On  the  9th  the  severe  cold 
glazed  the  surface  of  river  and  prairie,  and  they  mounted 
their  snowshoes  and  proceeded  at  a  rapid  pace.  They 
traversed  eight  leagfues  that  day,  and  six  the  next,  and  at 
sunset  of  March  loth  saw  before  them  the  lodges  of  the 
great  Indian  village  from  whose  subterranean  hiding 
places  they  had  taken  a  supply  of  com  as  they  passed 
down  the  Illinois.**  Ten  days  of  exhausting  labor  and 
privation  had  been  spent  in  the  arduous  journey  from 
near  Peoria  Lake  to  a  point  within  a  few  miles  of  the  site 
of  the  city  of  Ottawa,  a  distance  which  we  now  pass  over 
in  three  hours.  The  contrast  illustrates  the  difference 
between  transportation  by  canoe  and  by  rail. 

A  great  rain  during  the  two  days  following  opened  the 
river,  but  the  sheets  of  ice  crowded  amid  the  islands  and 
sandbanks  below  the  Indian  village  heaped  upon  one 
another  with  a  mighty  noise  until  huge  dams  were 
formed.  La  Salle  despaired  of  sending  timely  supplies  to 
his  people  at  Crfevecoeur  because  of  these  obstacles  and 
because  not  a  soul  was  in  the  village ;  he  could  not  take 
their  com  except  by  purchase  and  there  was  no  prospect 
of  any  of  the  Illinois  returning  at  such  an  inclement 
season.  Nevertheless,  a  trail  in  the  snow  which  they 
had  crossed  suggested  that  some  natives  might  be  hunt- 
ing in  that  region.     A  fire  of  reeds  was  kindled  in  the 


78       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

hope  that  the  smoke,  visible  from  afar  on  the  prairies, 
might  attract  attention;  and  such  was  the  result.  The 
next  day,  as  the  restless  La  Salle  was  exploring  the 
neighborhood,  while  his  men  were  smoking  the  flesh  of  a 
buffalo  they  had  slain,  he  saw  approaching  two  natives 
who  had  seen  the  distant  column  of  vapor  as  they  roamed 
the  snowy  waste.  They  were  soon  followed  by  Chas- 
sagoac,  the  chief  of  the  Illinois,  who  was  known  to  be 
well  disposed  towards  the  French.  His  name  seems  to 
be  another  form  of  the  word  "Chicago,"  and  the  similar- 
ity of  title  and  description  goes  far  to  identify  him  with 
the  chief  called  Chachagouessiou,  who  accompanied  Mar- 
quette from  Sturgeon  Bay  to  the  Chicago  portage  only 
six  years  before.  Each  is  spoken  of  as  the  leading  man 
among  the  Illinois,  and  each  is  said  to  be  very  friendly  to 
the  French.  Chassagoac  had  hot  previously  met  any 
of  La  Salle's  party,  and  must  therefore  have  been 
acquainted  with  other  Frenchmen,  who  not  improbably 
were  Marquette  and  his  companions.  And  the  variation 
in  the  names  as  they  appear  in  the  manuscripts  is  not 
greater  than  might  be  expected  in  the  attempts  of  differ- 
ent writers  to  represent  the  same  Indian  sounds."  La 
Salle,  with  politic  generosity,  presented,  from  his  small 
store,  a  red  blanket,  a  kettle,  and  some  hatchets  and 
knives  to  Chassagoac,  and  then  told  him  that  the  French 
at  Cr^vecoeur  were  in  want  of  provisions,  and  prayed 
him  to  furnish  these,  promising  recompense  on  the  return 
of  the  party  from  Frontenac.  Chassagoac  readily 
assented  and  loaded  one  of  the  canoes  with  corn.  This 
La  Salle  directed  two  of  his  men  to  take  back  to  Cr^ve- 
coeur,  keeping  four  Frenchmen  and  the  Indian  with  him.** 
A  long  conference  ensued  between  the  white  leader 
and  the  chief  of  the  red  men  on  the  shore  of  the  lonely 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  79 

river  under  the  inclement  sky.  All  that  had  taken  place 
at  the  villages  near  Crfevecoeur,  which  Chassagoac  had 
not  visited  that  season,  was  duly  recounted  to  him,  and 
then  La  Salle  spoke  of  the  future.  We  can  see  him  pac- 
ing back  and  forth  through  the  snow,  oblivious  of  his 
wintry  surroundings,  of  his  scanty  resources,  and  of  the 
sore  need  of  his  people  at  the  fort,  while,  with  the  light 
of  inspiration  on  his  brow,  he  unfolds  his  far-reaching 
plans  to  one  whose  co-operation  would  be  of  special  value. 
He  tells  of  his  designs  to  make  a  lasting  peace  between 
the  tribes  of  the  Illinois  and  the  fierce  warriors  of  the 
Six  Nations,  to  find  the  mouth  of  the  Great  River,  and  to 
bring  arms  and  merchandise  and  many  of  his  people  to 
form  an  establishment  among  the  Illinois,  so  soon  as  this 
great  discovery  should  be  made.  The  listening  savage, 
wrapped  in  his  blanket  by  the  campfire,  nods  approval  as 
the  orator  goes  on,  and  soon,  in  a  burst  of  unwonted 
enthusiasm,  evoked  by  the  ardent  eloquence  which  found 
its  way  to  the  savage  heart  so  well,  pledges  his  influence 
in  behalf  of  the  French,  confirms  all  that  La  Salle  has 
recently  heard  concerning  the  Mississippi,  and  assures 
him  that  everything  in  his  power  shall  be  done  to  bring 
his  enterprise  to  a  happy  ending."  The  news  of  impend- 
ing events  so  important  and  so  beneficial  to  his  tribe  con- 
soled Chassagoac  for  the  departure  of  his  new  friend,  and 
the  parties  to  this  sudden  alliance,  which  went  far  to  cir- 
cumvent the  machinations  of  La  Salle's  enemies,  bade 
each  other  farewell. 

The  four  hardy  voyageurs  and  their  native  comrade 
had  meanwhile  taken  one  canoe  and  their  supplies  as  far 
as  the  rapids,  four  leagues  above  the  village,  at  what  is 
now  known  as  North  Kickapoo  Creek.  Here  La  Salle 
joined  them,  and  they  embarked  on  the  river  on  the  i6th 


8o       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

of  March,  continuing  this  route  on  the  following  day  and 
advancing  a  dozen  leagues,  although  the  masses  of  ice 
often  obliged  them  to  travel  on  shore.  The  next  morn- 
ing the  river  was  so  solidly  frozen  that  it  was  navigable 
no  further.  They  hid  their  canoe  on  what  is  now  called 
Treat's  Island,  just  above  the  junction  of  the  Du  Page 
with  the  Illinois;  and  continued  their  journey  on  foot. 
Laden  with  their  outfit,  they  plodded  on  through  melting- 
snow,  and  across  a  great  marsh  until  at  noon  of  the  2  2d 
the  deep  and  rapid  waters  of  the  Little  Calumet  brought 
them  to  a  halt.  It  was  necessary  to  build  a  raft,  but  only 
oak  trees  could  be  found,  and  the  wood  of  these  was  not 
sufficiently  buoyant.  At  length  by  binding  the  driest 
branches  and  bunches  of  rushes  together  with  twisted 
willows,  they  made  shift  to  reach  the  opposite  bank, 
standing  deep  in  the  water  on  this  frail  support.  The  next 
day  a  similar  contrivance  carrifed  them  ovet  the  Grand 
Calumet,  and  two  ponds  or  sloughs  encountered  in  their 
.  course,  and  at  evening  they  were  greeted  by  the  waves  of 
Lake  Michigan  breaking  in  surf  upon  its  shores.  Fol- 
lowing its  strand,  they  arrived  on  March  24th  at  the 
River  St.  Joseph,  where  Fort  Miami  gave  them  shelter." 
Here  La  Salle  found  the  two  men,  Nicolas  Laurent  dit 
La  Chapelle  and  Noel  Le  Blanc,  whom  he  had  sent  the 
preceding  autumn  from  this  same  place  to  meet  his  ves- 
sel. They  increased  his  anxiety  concerning  her  by 
reporting  no  news  of  her  at  Michillimackinac,  which 
place  they  had  left  more  than  three  months  after  she 
should  have  touched  there.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
there  was  some  ground  for  hope,  because  they  had  made 
the  tour  of  the  entire  lake  without  finding  any  wreckage, 
nor  had  any  been  seen  by  the  many  Indians  and  French- 
men whom  they  met  at  different  points  along  their  route. 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  8i 

But  some  of  the  natives  told  an  ominous  tale  of  three  can- 
non shots  in  the  night,  the  sound  of  which  was  borne  to 
their  wigwams  by  a  great  wind  from  the  southwest.  The 
ever-sanguine  La  Salle,  however,  reasoned  that  a  gale 
from  that  direction  might  have  prevented  the  vessel's 
coming  to  anchor  at  Michillimackinac  and  carried  her 
beyond  that  island,  whence  she  had  held  on  her  way 
down  Lake  Huron,  and  refused  to  admit  that  she  could 
have  been  wrecked.'^ 

These  men  also  brought  the  unwelcome  tidings  that 
disaster  had  happened  to  La  Salle's  affairs  at  Quebec 
through  the  intrigues  of  his  opponents,  among  whom  his 
own  brother  was  conspicuous.  The  undaunted  chieftain 
only  set  his  face  more  resolutely  eastward.  He  ordered 
La  Chapelle  and  Le  Blanc  to  follow  the  route  of  the 
Kankakee  and  report  to  Tonty  at  Fort  Crfevecceur,  and 
sent  directions  by  them  to  his  faithful  lieutenant  to  visit 
the  great  Indian  village,  inspect  a  high  rock  in  its  neigh- 
borhood, and  build  a  strong  fort  upon  it.  He  resolved  to 
change  the  location  of  his  Illinois  citadel,  because  the 
Illinois  wished  that  he  should  build  it  near  their  great 
village,  as  he  learned,  doubtless,  at  his  interview  with 
Chassagoac.  The  new  site  was  not  the  bold  bluff  over- 
looking the  valley  of  the  Illinois  River  for  miles  in  either 
direction,  known  in  our  time  as  Starved  Rock,  which  was 
later  to  bear  the  structure  known  as  Fort  St.  Louis  of 
the  Illinois.  At  this  period  the  great  Indian  village  was 
some  eight  miles  above  this  point,  and  the  high  rock  in 
its  neighborhood  referred  to  by  La  Salle  was  probably 
that  known  to-day  as  Buffalo  Rock,  or  one  of  the  bluffs 
near  it.®* 

With  his  little  party  of  five  La  Salle  built  a  raft,  crossed 
the  St.   Joseph,   plunged  into  the  almost  impenetrable 


82       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

forests  of  what  is  now  southern  Michigan,  and  despite 
famine,  storm,  sickness  and  Indian  alarms,  found  his  way 
to  the  strait  between  Lakes  Huron  and  Erie,  from  which 
the  city  of  Detroit  takes  its  name.  Still  unwilling  to 
give  up  Le  Griffon,  he  sent  two  of  his  men,  Hunault  and 
Collin,  to  Mackinac  to  obtain  the  latest  information  con- 
cerning her,  and  with  the  other  three  rafted  across  the 
strait  and  followed  the  shore  of  Lake  Erie  on  foot,  until 
the  illness  of  two  of  his  comrades  compelled  him  with  the 
other  to  build  a  canoe,  by  means  of  which  the  party 
reached  the  Niagara,  April  21st.  Some  of  his  men  had 
wintered  in  a  cabin  above  the  cataract,  perhaps  at  the 
shipyard  of  Le  Griffon.  No  word  of  her  had  come  to 
them,  but  they  told  him  of  fresh  misfortunes.  The  ship 
St.  Pierre,  in  which  were  sent  from  France  more  than 
twenty  thousand  francs*  worth  of  merchandise  for  him, 
had  foundered  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  all  the 
cargo  was  lost,  and  of  twenty  workmen  whom  she  had 
brought  for  his  new  colony,  sixteen  had  gone  back  to 
Europe,  discouraged  by  the  current  reports  that  he  would 
never  return.  Of  his  stores  on  the  Niagara,  a  part  had 
been  stolen,  and  the  rest  were  exposed  to  the  same  risk, 
for  he  had  no  one  there  to  trust.  His  companions  also 
were  completely  exhausted,  and  not  one  could  go  with 
him  further.  But  taking  three  fresh  men  from  those 
who  had  spent  the  winter  there,  he  crossed  Lake  Ontario 
in  a  steady  downpour  of  rain,  and  on  the  6th  day  of  May 
Fort  Frontenac  welcomed  its  unconquerable  commander. 
In  sixty-seven  days  and  over  more  than  five  hundred 
leagues  of  country,  he  had  performed  a  journey  which 
the  official  relation  calls  the  most  laborious  ever  under- 
taken by  any  Frenchman  in  America." 

From  Fort  Conti   La  Salle  sent  back  D'Autray  with 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  83 

three  soldiers,  La  Violette,  Dulignon  and  Pierre  You, 
and  La  Salle's  servant,  La  Brie,  in  two  canoes  laden  with 
arms  and  supplies,  and  means  for  the  completion  of  the 
bark  at  Crfevecoeur.  He  directed  the  young  leader  to 
take  with  him  three  more  of  their  men  whom  he  would 
meet  on  the  way  and  the  two  whom  he  had  sent  to  Mack- 
inac, and  to  warn  Tonty  of  the  march  of  the  Iroquois 
against  the  Illinois,  and  to  remain  neutral  in  the  impend- 
ing conflict.  As  soon  as  he  arrived  at  Frontenac,  he  sent 
his  lieutenant  who  had  been  commanding  there,  Frangois 
Daubin,  Sieur  de  La  Forest,  who  held  of  him  the  island 
of  Belle  Isle,  at  the  entrance  of  Lake  Ontario,  with  five 
men  to  overtake  D'Autray's  party  and  bear  tidings  to 
Tonty  that  La  Salle  was  coming  with  all  speed  to  his  aid. 
Next  he  dispatched  a  canoe  to  Quebec  for  additional 
men,  but  of  the  whole  party  brought  by  the  St.  Pierre 
to  join  him,  one  named  Pinabel  alone  came  to  accompany 
him  to  the  Illinois  country.  He  learned  withal  that  some 
canoes  ascending  the  St.  Lawrence  laden  with  his  goods 
had  been  lost  in  the  rapids,  and  that  dire  confusion  pre- 
vailed in  his  affairs  at  Montreal.  A  brief  visit  to  that 
place  enabled  him  in  eight  days  time  to  restore  order  and 
secure  fresh  supplies,  and  he  returned  with  all  speed  to 
Frontenac  to  complete  his  preparations  for  a  second 
journey  to  the  land  of  the  Illinois.  Here,  on  July  2 2d, 
arrived  Nicolas  Laurent,  dit  La  Chapelle,  again  the 
bearer  of  evil  tidings,  and  with  him  Jacques  Messier  and 
Nicolas  Crevel,  a  colonist  at  Frontenac,  who  had  met  the 
others  on  their  way.  The  first  two  had  been  sent  by 
Tonty  to  report  that  most  of  the  men  left  at  Crevecoeur 
had,  while  Tonty  was  obtaining  provisions  at  the  great 
Illinois  village,  pillaged  the  magazine,  dismantled  the 
fort,   and  decamped  with  all  the  peltries  and  supplies. 


S4      CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

They  had  taken  the  route  to  Montreal,  and  some  of  them 
had  already  been  seen  on  Lake  Frontenac.  La  Salle  set 
forth  at  once  to  intercept  them.  Two  of  his  colonists 
sent  by  La  Forest  met  him  on  the  way,  bringing  the 
further  information  that  these  deserters  had  demolished 
Fort  Miami  and  robbed  the  storehouses  at  Mackinac  and 
Niagara,  and  while  eight  of  them  had  fled  towards  New 
York,  twelve  were  coming  to  slay  him. 

La  Salle  lay  in  wait  for  them,  and  made  his  dispositions 
with  such  skill  that  two  of  the  miscreants  were  slain  and 
the  others  were  taken  in  irons  to  the  dungeon  of  Fort 
Frontenac.  Hence,  on  August  lo,  1680,  he  departed 
with  five  and  twenty  men  to  the  relief  of  the  loyal  Tonty. 
On  the  15th  he  reached  Teioiagon,  an  Iroquois  village 
not  far,  perhaps,  from  the  site  of  Toronto,  and  made  it 
his  headquarters  till  the  2 2d,  while  his  effects  were  trans- 
ported by  land  to  Lake  Simcoe,  which  he  called  Lake 
Toronto.  As  he  reached  its  shore  on  the  23d,  two  more 
of  his  deserters,  making  their  way  to  Montreal,  fell  into 
his  hands.  One,  Gabriel  Minime,  who  had  left  him  at 
Mackinac,  was  permitted  to  re-enter  his  service.  The 
other,  Grandmaison,  escaped  with  his  portion  of  the 
stolen  furs."  But  they  also  brought  sad  news  to  La  Salle, 
and  he  was  compelled  at  last  to  believe  that  his  woes  had 
culminated  in  the  total  loss  of  Le  Griffon  and  her  cargo. 
These  men  had  met  some  Pottawattamie  Indians,  who 
told  them  that  two  days  after  the  bark  left  the  island 
where  La  Salle  bid  her  farewell  September  18,  1679,  a 
great  gale  arose.  The  pilot,  who  had  anchored  off  the 
north  shore  of  the  lake  under  the  shelter  of  a  headland 
near  the  wigwams  of  these  savages,  determined  to  pro- 
ceed to  Mackinac,  despite  their  warnings  that  a  mighty 
tempest  was  raging  in  the  open  lake,  which  was  white 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  85 

with  foam.  Mocking  at  their  fears  and  asserting  that  no 
wind  could  stay  his  course,  he  set  sail  in  the  face  of  the 
increasing  storm.  Hardly  had  the  little  vessel  gone  a 
quarter  of  a  league  from  its  anchorage  when  the  natives 
saw  it  rolling  wildly  amid  the  huge  waves,  and  then  with 
its  canvas  furled  driven  irresistibly  before  the  blast.  In 
the  gathering  gloom  and  floods  of  rain  it  disappeared 
from  view,  and  they  never  saw  it  more.  The  following 
spring  they  found  some  clothing  along  the  shore,  and  in 
the  summer  a  hatchway,  a  bit  of  cordage  and  a  few  pack- 
ages of  beaver  skins  were  discovered  in  the  sand.  These, 
with  the  head  of  a  flag  staff,  were  the  sole  relics  of  the 
unfortunate  craft,  which  undoubtedly  foundered  not 
many  hours  after  it  was  last  seen  from  the  Pottawattamie 
village.'^  And  those  midnight  guns  heard  by  the  won- 
dering savages  on  the  other  shore  above  the  roar  of  the 
tempest  were  her  last  appeals  for  help  as  she  went  to  her 
doom  in  the  depths  of  the  Lake  of  the  Illinois.  Romance 
has  been  busy  with  her  fate,  and  has  even  fancied  that 
Le  Griffon,  shaped  as  we  see  her  in  the  picture  in  Hen- 
nepin's New  Discovery,  after  the  fashion  of  ancient 
men  of  war,  her  bow  and  stern  built  high  and  her  beak 
head  displaying  a  flying  griffin  and  an  eagle,  with  her 
five  small  cannon,  three  of  brass  and  two  of  arquebus 
pattern,  and  all  the  rest  of  her  antique  equipment  is  pre- 
served to  this  day  beneath  one  of  the  sand  dunes  on  the 
eastern  coast  of  Lake  Michigan.*® 

The  long  suspense  was  over,  and  the  hope  which  had 
cheered  the  dreary  journey  from  Crevecoeur  and  prom- 
ised tidings  at  every  station  in  the  wilderness  was  sor- 
rowfully abandoned.  But  La  Salle  was  not  discouraged. 
He  had  sent  six  of  his  men,  a  blacksmith,  two  sailors,  a 
rope  maker  and  two  soldiers  to  take  powder,  lead,  sails, 


86       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

tools  and  other  supplies  from  the  Niagara  storehouse  by- 
Lake  Erie  to  Mackinac.  He,  with  the  rest  of  his  party, 
descended  the  Severn  River  to  Lake  Huron,  and  coast- 
ing its  lonely  shores  and  islands  reached  Sault  Ste.  Marie 
on  September  i6th.  He  presented  here  Frontenac's 
order  for  the  delivery  to  him  of  the  peltries  left  at  the 
mission  by  the  deserters,  but  the  priests  had  mingled 
them  with  those  belonging  to  the  church,  and  to  avoid  a 
charge  of  sacrilege  La  Salle  departed  empty  handed. 
He  pursued  his  way  the  next  day  to  Mackinac,  where  he 
was  delayed  three  weeks  by  the  hostility  of  the  Jesuits, 
who  prevented  his  obtaining  supplies,  and  sought  to 
entrap  him  into  trading  in  that  region  contrary  to  the 
royal  commission.  At  this  place  he  seems  to  have  been 
joined  by  D'Autray  and  La  Forest,  who  in  turn  had  met 
some  of  the  deserters  from  Crevecoeur,  by  whose  false 
tales  of  Tonty's  death  and  other  disasters  the  men  of  the 
relief  parties  had  been  so  discouraged  that  their  leaders 
were  compelled  to  retrace  their  steps.  The  Lake  Erie 
detachment  did  not  make  its  appearance,  and  La  Salle 
was  compelled  to  send  two  canoes  by  different  routes  in 
search  of  it.  He  could  not  wait  longer,  and  exchanging 
his  stock  of  spirits  with  the  natives  for  Indian  corn,  and 
leaving  La  Forest  with  three  soldiers  to  follow  with  the 
rear  guard,  he  left  Mackinac  on  the  4th  of  October, 
1680.'" 

The  advance  party  now  consisted  of  La  Salle,  D'Au- 
tray, whom  his  commander  calls  "the  ever  faithful,"  a 
proud  title  to  win  in  those  days  of  treachery,  the  ship 
carpenter,  Noel  Blanc,  whose  desertion  had  been  for- 
given, a  surgeon,  three  soldiers,  two  sawyers,  two 
masons,  two  laborers  and  an  Indian.  Frequent  storms 
delayed  their  arrival  at  the  river  of  the  Miamis  until  No- 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  87 

vember  4th.  Here  they  expected  to  meet  La  Forest,  who 
had  been  ordered  to  leave  Mackinac  not  later  than  Octo- 
ber 20th,  and  being  less  encumbered  with  heavy  lading 
should  have  made  the  trip  by  this  time.  He  did  not 
appear,  and  most  of  their  equipment  being  useless  with- 
out the  blacksmith,  who  was  with  the  Lake  Erie  detach- 
ment, it  was  left  in  charge  of  Le  Blanc  and  five  French- 
men, and  an  Indian  hunter  named  Nanangoucy,  of  a  New 
England  tribe,  was  employed  to  supply  them  with  pro- 
visions. They  were  directed  to  prepare  timbers  for  the 
building  of  the  ruined  fort  and  construction  of  a  vessel, 
while  waiting  for  La  Forest,  for  whom  orders  were  left 
to  join  the  vanguard  if  he  arrived  before  winter.  La 
Salle,  with  D'Autray,  whom  he  again  compliments  as  a 
"very  brave  young  man,"  the  surgeon,  and  the  man 
named  You,  also  called  "a  very  brave  fellow,"  Tamisier, 
Baron,  and  Hunault,  who  had  made  the  terrible  winter 
journey  from  Crbvecoeur,  together  with  La  Salle's  faith- 
ful Indian,  Le  Loup,  set  out  on  November"  8th.  They 
ascended  the  river,  and  on  the  15th  were  at  the  Miami 
village  near  the  portage,  which  they  were  surprised  to 
find  totally  deserted.  Crossing  the  two  leagues  of  marshy 
land  which  in  times  of  low  water  were  all  that  inter- 
vened between  the  two  rivers,  on  the  17th  they  were 
afloat  on  the  Kankakee,  and  pursued  their  course  as 
swiftly  as  its  tortuous  windings  would  allow. ^*  By  the 
23d  they  were  once  more  in  the  land  of  the  Illinois,  and 
at  the  mouth  of  the  River  Iroquois,  passed  the  recent 
camping  place  of  a  war  party  of  Kickapoos,  two  hundred 
or  more  in  number,  of  whose  deeds  they  were  soon  to 
hear.  An  abundance  of  game  rejoiced  the  hearts  of  the 
men,  but  La  Salle  was  filled  with  a  vague  inquietude  as 
he  noted  the  imusual  Indian  signs  and  the  failure  of  the  111- 


88       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

inois  to  burn  the  prairies  according  to  their  custom  in  the 
buffalo  season.  The  27th  they  arrived  at  the  place 
where,  as  La  Salle  says,  the  River  Divine  falls  into  the 
Teaki,  being  the  junction  of  the  Des  Plaines  and  the  Kan- 
kakee. Here  careful  search  was  made  for  signs  of  Ton- 
ty's  passing.  As  none  were  found,  and  he  must  have 
followed  one  or  the  other  of  these  rivers  had  he  left  the 
country,  it  seemed  that  he  was  still  at  the  Illinois  village. 
Encouraged  by  this  belief  La  Salle  halted  for  three  days 
to  indulge  his  men  in  a  grand  hunting  expedition.  The 
neighborhood,  then  as  in  later  times  the  paradise  of  the 
sportsman,  soon  yielded  to  their  pursuit  a  dozen  fat  buf- 
falo, seven  or  eight  deer,  and  swans  and  other  birds  in 
profusion.  They  prepared  and  stored  a  supply  for  the 
winter,  loaded  one  canoe  with  the  choicest  viands  to 
regale  Tonty  and  his  comrades,  and  cheerily  embarked 
on  the  Illinois  River  for  the  great  Indian  village  only  fif- 
teen leagues  away."  Here  they  arrived  the  evening  of 
December  ist  only  to  find  it  a  place  of  indescribable  hor- 
ror. The  long  rows  of  lodges  had  been  burned,  and  their 
site  was  marked  by  blackened  poles  on  which  were  fixed 
ghastly  human  heads.  The  plain  was  strewn  with  man- 
gled bodies  and  with  bones  from  the  violated  burial  places 
of  the  village.  The  underground  storehouses  had  been 
broken  open,  and  the  supplies  of  corn  burned  or  trampled 
under  foot,  the  village  utensils  shattered  and  every  spe- 
cies of  diabolical  mischief  wrought.  And  this  place  of 
carnage  was  inhabited  only  by  wolves  and  birds  of  prey, 
whose  howls  and  cries  filled  the  air  while  they  seemed 
ready  to  oppose  the  landing  of  the  horror-stricken  trav- 
elers. The  terrible  scourge  of  an  Iroquois  invasion  had 
fallen  upon  the  land  of  the  Illinois,  and  there  seemed  no 
one  left  to  tell  the  tale.     An  eager  search  revealed  no 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  89 

indications  of  the  slaying  of  Tonty's  party,  except  that 
by  a  planted  space,  a  league  from  the  village  and  near 
the  river,  which  apparently  had  been  their  garden,  La 
Salle  found  six  pointed  stakes  set  in  the  earth,  painted 
red,  with  the  figure  of  a  man  in  black  upon  each  with  his 
eyes  bandaged.  He  knew  it  was  the  custom  of  the  sav- 
ages to  erect  such  trophies  where  they  had  slain  people, 
and  feared  that  such  had  been  the  fate  of  his  men.  But 
it  was  possible  that  they  had  only  been  made  prisoners 
and  forced  to  descend  the  river  with  some  of  the  Illinois 
fleeing  from  the  Iroquois.  After  a  night  of  sleepless 
anxiety  La  Salle  resolved  to  follow.  Storing  his  goods  in 
an  opening  in  the  steep  side  of  a  cliff,  he  detailed  three 
of  his  men  to  occupy  a  neighboring  island  between  two 
rapids  to  gather  corn  for  winter  supplies  for  his  party 
and  that  which  he  expected  to  follow,  warning  them  to 
remain  in  concealment  as  much  as  possible.  These  three 
were  the  surgeon,  Tamisier  and  Baron.  ^"* 

The  next  day,  December  2d,  La  Salle  himself,  at  three 
in  the  afternoon,  embarked  with  D'Autray,  You,  Hun- 
ault,  and  Le  Loup,  in  a  canoe.  They  made  six  leagues 
before  night,  and  came  to  the  place  of  refuge  which  the 
Illinois  had  established  for  their  women  and  children,  on 
a  point  of  land  between  the  river  and  the  marsh.  It  was 
crowded  with  lodges  defended  by  a  kind  of  parapet  built 
of  their  pirogues.  On  the  opposite  shore  the  insatiable 
Iroquois,  prevented  from  crossing  by  their  lack  of 
canoes,  had  erected  their  one  hundred  and  thirteen 
lodges,  and  on  the  bark  of  trees  near  by  were  rudely 
drawn  the  tokens  of  their  chiefs  and  the  tallies  which 
showed  that  five  hundred  and  eighty-two  braves  had  fol- 
lowed them  to  the  war.  In  neither  camp  was  there  any 
trace  of  the  missing  Frenchmen.     At  daybreak.  La  Salle 


90       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

was  again  afloat,  and  steadily  paddling  until  nightfall,  his 
party  arrived  at  what  remained  of  Fort  Crevecoeur,  which 
the  deserters  had  left  in  ruins.  On  the  way  they  passed 
six  encampments  of  the  Illinois,  and  as.  many  of  the  Iro- 
quois, face  to  face  with  these,  on  the  opposite  shore. 
Relentlessly  these  human  tigers  had  tracked  their  vic- 
tims, halting  when  they  halted,  marching  when  they 
marched,  and  waiting  only  for  the  decisive  moment  to 
glut  their  thirst  for  blood.  With  mournful  thoughts  La 
Salle  stood  again  by  the  side  of  the  unfinished  vessel 
which  he  had  expected  to  bear  him  proudly  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi.  The  Iroquois  had  drawn  a  few  nails 
from  its  moldings,  but  it  was  otherwise  uninjured,  and 
could  have  been  completed  in  a  month,  had  the  tools  been 
at  hand  which  were  taken  to  the  Indian  village  by  Tonty 
and  ruined  in  its  destruction.  On  a  broken  plank  were 
written  the  words;  "Nous  sommes  tous  sauvages  ce  15  A 

,  1680, "and   the   latter  part  of  the  sentence  was 

missing.  La  Salle  recognized  the  handwriting  of  Le 
Parisien,  and  at  first  thought  that  Tonty  had  caused  this 
to  be  done  in  August,  when  retreating  with  the  Illinois. 
It  was  afterwards  learned  that  it  was  part  of  an  inscrip- 
tion traced  in  April  before  Tonty  went  to  the  great  Illi- 
nois village.  La  Salle  set  out  on  December  4th  to  follow 
the  river  to  its  mouth,  believing  that  his  lieutenant  and 
companions  had  descended  it  with  the  savages.  Passing 
four  of  their  camps  and  as  many  of  their  ruthless  foes 
directly  opposite  these,  and  traveling  all  night,  the  next 
day  they  came  upon  another  dreadful  scene  of  slaughter/"^ 
Only  twelve  days  before,  as  the  hapless  survivors  later 
told  the  tale,  the  Illinois  tribes,  trusting  to  a  treaty  of 
peace  with  the  Iroquois,  separated  for  their  more  con- 
venient support.      The  Kaskaskias,   the  bravest  of  all, 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS^=^--  --^ 


with  the  Cahokias  and  others,  ascended  the  Mississippi. 
The  Peorias,  the  most  numerous  and  apparently  the  wis- 
est, crossed  it,  and  the  Omouhoa  and  others  went  down 
the  stream.  Only  the  Tamaroas  with  two  other  tribes  or 
sub-tribes  remained,  and  upon  them  the  relentless  war- 
riors of  the  Five  Nations  wreaked  their  vengeance,  leav- 
ing behind  them  horrible  proofs  of  their  demoniac 
cruelty.  Afterwards  it  was  said  that  the  warriors  who 
went  northward  and  there  battled  with  the  Sioux, 
returned  and  had  several  engagements  with  the  Iroquois 
with  equal  loss  on  both  sides,  but  finally  the  greater  part 
of  the  Illinois  retired  beyond  the  Mississippi  among  the 
Osages,  two  hundred  leagues  from  their  own  country, 
but  even  to  this  distant  refuge  some  of  the  Iroquois  pur- 
sued them."^  No  trace  of  the  French  being  found,  La 
Salle  pushed  forward  to  the  Mississippi,  whose  swollen 
stream  he  now  saw  probably  for  the  first  time.  On  a 
rock  to  the  left  of  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  he  trimmed 
a  young  tree,  and  nailed  to  its  trunk  a  board  on  which  he 
painted  a  canoe  and  a  calumet  as  a  sign  of  peace,  and 
attached  a  letter  to  Tonty,  telling  him  of  his  own  return 
to  the  village,  and  that  he  had  hidden  near  by  a  supply  of 
hatchets,  knives  and  other  supplies  of  use  to  him  if  he 
were  with  the  savages.  D'Autray  and  the  other  men 
now  proposed  to  descend  the  great  river  and  to  risk  their 
lives  to  achieve  the  great  discovery  which  they  knew  their 
leader  had  so  much  at  heart.  He  praised  their  fearless 
courage  and  the  spirit  so  akin  to  his  own,  but  he  could  not 
thus  abandon  the  men  left  at  the  Illinois  village,  or  those 
who  were  to  follow,  or  give  up  the  search  for  Tonty,  nor 
had  they  the  equipment  or  the  force  for  such  an  undertak- 
ing. He  assured  them  that  he  would  accomplish  it  in 
safety  and  honor  the  following  spring  when  all  his  men 


92       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

would  be  re-united  and  proper  preparation  made,  but  now 
he  must  retrace  his  steps.  The  thin  ice  was  forming  on 
the  surface  of  the  river  on  December  7th,  when  the  prow 
of  their  canoe  was  turned  northward.  They  urged  it  for- 
ward with  such  remarkable  speed  that  they  reached  the 
Illinois  village  within  four  days,  and  were  greeted  there 
by  their  three  comrades  the  night  of  the  i  ith.  During 
the  two  weeks  following,  they  collected  and  stored  the 
Indian  corn  which  had  been  scattered  about  the  plain, 
and  built  sledges  to  carry  their  canoes  and  supplies  over 
the  ice.  As  they  rested  from  their  work  in  the  evening 
of  the  19th,  they  beheld  the  great  comet  of  1680  appear- 
ing above  the  horizon.  Night  after  night  they  watched 
its  fiery  splendors  increase  until  it  culminated  in  the  fol- 
lowing month  and  slowly  faded  away.  During  that  win- 
ter also  they  repeatedly  saw  parhelions  or  mock  suns, 
and  on  one  notable  occasion,  of  which  La  Salle  carefully 
noted  the  particulars,  eight  of  these  were  seen  besides 
the  true  sun,  and  remained  visible  for  hours."* 

The  day  after  Christmas,  they  fired  the  rude  fort  and 
the  cabins  which  the  Iroquois  had  built  at  the  ruined 
village,  that  the  smoke  might  attract  some  of  the  Illinois 
with  news  of  Tonty,  and  to  advise  them  of  the  presence 
of  the  relief  party.  It  was  in  vain.  The  country  was 
deserted,  and  perhaps  at  that  time  La  Salle  and  his  four 
men  were  the  only  human  beings  in  all  the  region  which 
is  now  comprised  in  the  State  of  Illinois.  They  departed 
on  December  28th,  with  three  heavily  loaded  canoes 
which  they  drew  on  the  sledges  over  the  ice.  Six  leagues 
below  the  junction  of  the  Kankakee  with  the  Des  Plaines, 
which  La  Salle  says  Jolliet  named  the  Divine,  they  came 
upon  a  hut  missed  in  their  downward  voyage,  which 
seemed  to  be  one  of  Tonty  *s.     Believing  then  that  he  had 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  93 

not  accompanied  the  savages,  and  knowing  that  there 
was  no  trace  of  him  on  the  Kankakee,  La  Salle  felt  sure 
that  he  had  taken  the  route  of  the  Des  Plaines  to  Lake 
Michigan ;  and  resolved  to  follow  him.  A  league  above 
the  junction,  which  he  reached  January  6,  1681,  he  left 
all  his  equipage  in  charge  of  D'Autray  and  the  surgeon, 
probably  Jean  Michel,  who  volunteered  to  remain  and 
guard  it,  and  proceeded  on  foot  with  his  five  other  men. 
The  first  day's  weary  tramp  through  heavy  snow  brought 
them  to  another  hut  on  the  bank  of  the  stream,  where 
La  Salle's  quick  eye  fell  upon  a  piece  of  wood  cut  with  a 
saw,  which  told  him  that  Tonty  must  have  passed  that 
way.  From  other  signs  he  judged  that  this  was  at  least 
two  months  before,  and  hence  it  was  impossible  to  over- 
take him.^o* 

Turning,  therefore,  in  the  direction  of  the  St.  Joseph,  he 
crossed  the  open  country  during  nineteen  days  of  contin- 
uous snowfall,  finding  no  bark  to  make  a  hut  and  hardly 
wood  enough  for  the  evening  fires,  pressing  forward  ever 
in  advance  of  his  men,  and  breaking  for  them  a  passage 
through  the  drifts.  His  chronicler  informs  us  that  La 
Salle,  who  seemed  always  insensible  to  every  kind  of 
fatigue,  assured  him  that  he  never  endured  so  much  cold 
or  such  suffering  as  on  this  memorable  journey.  At  the 
end  of  January  he  was  again  at  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
Joseph,  but  did  not  find  there  Tonty,  who  he  hoped  had 
traversed  the  Chicago  portage  to  Lake  Michigan  and 
coasted  its  southern  shore  to  this  meeting  place.  La 
Forest  had  arrived  with  three  soldiers  and  reported  that 
the  party  for  whom  he  had  waited  had  wintered  at  the 
strait  flowing  into  the  west  end  of  Lake  Erie,  and  that  he 
had  seen  from  Mackinac  a  canoe  passing  by  which  did  not 
stop  there  but  held  on  its  way  down  Lake  Huron.     La 


94       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

Salle  thought  this  might  be  Tonty's  craft,  and  eager  to 
communicate  with  him  as  well  as  to  prevent  the  news  of 
the  Iroquois  invasion  from  discouraging  his  men  who 
were  in  winter  quarters,  asked  for  volunteers  to  carry- 
messages  to  their  camp.  Two  of  his  comrades,  realizing 
that  it  was  only  a  third  of  the  journey  which  their  com- 
mander had  made  the  preceding  spring,  willingly  under- 
took this  task,  and  set  forth  on  February  2,  1681."^ 

In  the  midst  of  these  anxieties  it  was  a  comfort  to  La 
Salle  to  find  that  the  men  left  at  the  St.  Joseph  had  faith- 
fully executed  his  orders.  The  carpenter  had  laid  the 
keel  and  shaped  the  knees  of  a  bark,  and  squared  the 
wood  for  her  sheathing,  while  his  companions  had  cleared 
a  large  space  of  ground  for  cultivation,  and  prepared  the 
materials  for  the  construction  of  a  barn.  The  vessel 
might  have  been  completed,  had  the  blacksmith  only 
arrived  with  the  saws  and  the  rigging  and  other  supplies, 
which  his  party  were  to  bring  from  the  storehouse  at 
Tiotontaracton,  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie,  to  the  River  of 
the  Miamis.  The  work  done  here  was  the  more  impor- 
tant as  La  Salle  had  concluded  to  make  an  establishment 
at  this  place,  and  give  up  that  among  the  Illinois,  as  he 
feared  that  the  formidable  enemies  of  that  tribe  would 
never  permit  their  return  to  their  own  country.^"*  For  the 
time  it  seemed  as  if  they  must  be  left  out  of  his  plans, 
and  all  hope  abandoned  of  maintaining  a  settlement  in 
the  land  of  the  Illinois. 

III.     Occupation 

Tonty  meanwhile  was  undergoing  experiences  rivaling 
those  of  La  Salle  in  interest  and  in  danger.  Some  six 
weeks  after  he  was  left  in  command  of  Fort  Cr^vecoeur, 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  95 

La  Chapelle  and  Le  Blanc  arrived  from  Fort  Miami, 
bringing  the  order  for  the  construction  of  a  stronghold 
near  the  great  Indian  village.^  Membre  had  already- 
gone  there  with  his  adopted  father,  Oumahouha,  who 
was  returning  with  other  savages  from  their  winter 
quarters.  Tonty  at  once  ascended  the  river  with  a  few 
men  to  commence  the  new  fort  and  obtain  further  sup- 
plies. The  messengers  remained  with  the  rest  of  the 
party,  and  the  tale  of  misfortune  which  they  had  brought 
from  Mackinac  was  repeated  again  and  again.  Le  Blanc 
did  not  hesitate  to  assure  his  comrades  that  La  Salle  was 
a  lost  man  and  would  never  return  to  the  Illinois  country, 
and  advised  them  to  shift  for  themselves,  taking  pay  for 
their  arrears  of  service  from  the  goods  at  hand.  Under 
his  lead,  about  the  middle  of  April,^  Moyse  Hillaret  and 
Frangois  Sauvin,  called  La  Roze,  ship  carpenters  like  him- 
self, and  Jean  Le  Meilleur,  nicknamed  La  Forge,  the  black- 
smith, forced  the  magazine  at  Cr^vecceur,  and  carried 
away  all  the  ammunition,  provisions  and  peltries  there  in 
store.  Two  other  faithless  ones,  named  Petit  Bled  and 
Boisardenne,  on  their  way  to  the  great  village  with 
Father  Gabriel  de  La  Ribourde,  deserted  him  in  the  woods 
at  night,  taking  the  canoe  and  spiking  the  guns  of  Bois- 
rondet  and  L'Esperance,  who  were  with  them,  but  not  in 
the  plot.  The  six  disaffected  men  seem  also  to  have  done 
as  much  damage  as  they  could  at  the  fort,  and  then 
departed  for  Canada.  Etienne  Renault,  known  as  the 
Parisian,  first  writing  on  one  of  the  planks  of  the  bark 
the  despairing  sentence  which  La  Salle  later  found  partly 
effaced,  made  haste,  with  the  others,  to  join  Tonty.  That 
steadfast  man  was  thus  at  a  blow  deprived  of  everything 
and  made  utterly  dependent  upon  the  savages.  But, 
regardless  of  himself,  he  thought  only  of  La  Salle,  and 


96      CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

forthwith  dispatched  four  of  his  men,  two  to  take  the 
Lake  Erie  route  and  two  to  go  by  Lake  Simcoe,  to  carry 
the  sorrowful  tidings  to  his  commander.'*  Of  these  La 
Chapelle  and  Messier,  as  we  have  seen,  were  faithful  to 
their  trust.  The  others,  Jacques  Richon  and  Jean 
Lemire,  overtook  and  made  common  cause  with  the 
deserters.  These  went  by  the  Illinois,  the  Kankakee  and 
the  St.  Joseph  to  Fort  Miami,  which  La  Salle  had  left  in 
good  order  but  a  little  time  before,  and  deliberately 
destroyed  it.  Thence  thej'-  coasted  Lake  Michigan  to 
Mackinac,  where  they  were  joined  by  some  of  those  who 
had  deserted  there,  and  seized  La  Salle's  furs  stored  at 
that  place.  These  they  deposited  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  for 
their  own  account.  Somewhere  on  their  route  they  met 
the  parties  of  D'Autray  and  La  Forest,  and  persuaded 
them  to  abandon  the  journey  to  the  Illinois,  telling  them 
that  Tonty  was  dead  and  Fort  Cr^vecceur  deserted.  At 
Niagara  they  robbed  the  storehouse  and  induced  the 
guards  to  go  with  them.  Then  they  divided  into  two 
companies,  as  heretofore  related,  one  making  for  Albany 
and  the  other  falling  into  the  hands  of  La  Salle,  by  whom 
Boisardenne  and  one  named  Paulmier  were  shot,  and  the 
rest  oi  their  band  imprisoned.* 

By  these  desertions  and  the  detachments  sent  to  carry 
the  news,  Tonty's  command  was  reduced  to  the  two 
friars,  Ribourde  and  Membr6,  and  three  young  men  who 
had  come  from  France  only  the  year  before,  Le  Sieur 
Boisrondet,  L'Esperance,  and  Renault.  The  two  latter 
were  at  first  La  Salle's  personal  servants,  but  the  rough 
training  of  the  wilderness  soon  transformed  them  into 
hardy  voyageurs.  Crfevecoeur  was  no  longer  tenable,  and 
the  forge  and  tools  which  the  deserters  had  not  time  to 
destroy  were  removed  to  the  great  Indian  village.  ^     The 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  97 

friars  labored  among  the  natives  who  assembled  there, 
Membr^  says,  to  the  number  of  seven  or  eight  thousand 
souls.     An  Illinois  chieftain  named  Asapista,  with  whom 
La  Salle  had  formed  a  friendship,  adopted  Ribourde  as 
his  son  and  gave  him  a  home  and  subsistence  in  the 
Indian   fashion   in   his   cabin.     His   aged   comrade  thus 
cared  for,  the  more  active  Membre  was  free  to  visit  other 
tribes  in  the  pursuit  of  his  calling.     He  made  a  journey 
to  the  villages  of  the  Miamis  along  the  River  St.  Joseph 
to  learn  something  of  their  dispositions,  and  also  went  to 
other  encampments  of  the  Illinois.     He  mentions  a  vil- 
lage of  the  Kaskaskias  situated  a  little  southwest  of  the 
foot  of  Lake  Michigan,  which  he  called  Lake  Dauphin,  at 
about   latitude   41    degrees,®  perhaps   on   the  Kankakee 
River.     He  heard  of,  and  possibly  visited,  the  nation  of 
the  Mascoutens  and  the  Outagamis,  who  were  dwelling 
on  the  banks  of  the  river  called  Melleoki,  and  who  had 
their  village  very  near  its  entrance  into  Lake  Dauphin 
or  on  the  site  of  the  city  of  Milwaukee.     Westofthese 
again  were  the  Kickapoos  and  the  Ainoves  or  lowas,  the 
way  to  whose  two  villages  was  up  the  River  Checagoume- 
mant,  a  name  here  apparently  applied  to  the  Des  Plaines. 
Of  the  Sioux  and  other  distant  nations  some  information 
reached  him  through  the  intercourse  of  the  Illinois  with 
them.      He  had  little  success  with  any  of  the  savages 
whom   he   met,  finding  only  cause  for  chagrin  at  their 
deplorable  state.     He  could  not  rely  upon  any  conver- 
sions, and  felt  great  scruples  as  to  the  efficacy  of  native 
baptism  after  he  learned  that  an  Indian  whom  he  calls 
Chassagouache,  once  duly  baptized,  had  died  in  the  hands 
of  the  medicine  men,   abandoned  to  their  superstitions 
and  consequently  doubly  a  child  of  hell  — "duple  filium 
gehennae."     This  backslider  was  undoubtedly  the  head- 


98       CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

chief  of  the  Illinois,  already  spoken  of  as  Chassagoac, 
who  must  have  died  shortly  after  his  memorable  inter- 
view with  La  Salle.'' 

Tonty  had  expected  his  commander  to  return  by  the 
end  of  May,  and  encouraged  the  Illinois  to  believe  this, 
while  he  instructed  them  in  the  use  of  firearms  and  other 
European  arts.  They  were  disquieted  by  a  rumor  that 
the  Miamis  were  forming  a  league  with  the  Iroquois 
against  them,  and  he  taught  them  how  to  defend  them- 
selves by  palisades  and  even  made  them  erect  a  kind  of 
little  fort  with  entrenchments.  But  the  summer  wore  on 
without  a  word  from  the  absent  leader.  An  Indian  of 
the  Kiskakon  tribe  named  Winipeg,  appeared  at  the  vil- 
lage with  a  tale  of  La  Salle's  death,  supported  by  proofs 
so  carefully  prepared  by  his  enemies,  clerical  or  commer- 
cial, that  Tonty  was  forced  to  believe  it.  His  own  posi- 
tion was  becoming  critical,  for  a  story  ran  among  the 
Illinois  that  La  Salle  was  coming  to  deliver  them  to  the 
Iroquois  to  be  destroyed,  and  that  Tonty  was  not  a 
Frenchman,  but  of  a  nation  hostile  to  the  great  King, 
The  worthy  priests  meanwhile  following  their  Indians  in 
their  camps  and  to  the  chase,  had  no  greater  grievance 
than  the  lack  of  wine  for  the  celebration  of  the  mass.' 
They  were  rejoiced  to  supply  this  want  towards  the  end 
of  August  from  the  juice  of  wild  grapes,  which  began  to 
ripen  then  in  clusters  of  prodigious  size,  of  very  agree- 
able taste,  and  with  seeds  larger  than  those  of  Europe. 
They  made  a  kind  of  retreat,  a  league's  distance  from 
the  village  near  the  river,  in  a  cabin  in  the  midst  of  a 
plain  which  the  savages  had  sown  with  grain.  Here  they 
set  up  their  portable  chapel  service  and  performed  the 
offices  of  their  faith,  with  a  dusky  neophyte  in  the  person 
of  the  Indian  with  whom  they  lodged.      This  peaceful 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  99 

time  was  destined  to  be  of  short  duration.  Tonty  decided 
that  it  was  unsafe  to  tarry  longer,  and  gathering  his 
party  set  out  for  Mackinac  on  September  2,  1680,  despite 
the  opposition  of  the  natives  who  suspected  some  design 
against  them.  The  river,  shrunken  by  summer  drought, 
was  too  low  for  the  passage  of  a  canoe,  and  the  French- 
men very  unwillingly  were  obliged  to  return.  On  the 
loth  the  stream  was  swollen  by  a  sudden  rain,  and 
Tonty  directed  that  the  canoe  should  be  re-coated  with 
gum  and  everything  in  readiness  to  depart  the  next  morn- 
ing.' But  strange  events  were  at  hand  to  delay  the 
execution  of  this  purpose. 

The  following  day,  while  the  usual  quiet  pervaded  the 
village,  a  friendly  Shawnee,  who  had  left  it  but  the  night 
before  to  go  to  his  home  on  the  Ohio,  returned  in  haste 
with  the  startling  intelligence  that  he  had  met  an  Iro- 
quois army,  four  or  five  hundred  strong,  on  the  march  to 
attack  the  Illinois.  A  few  hours  more  would  bring  them 
to  the  village,  which  at  once  was  all  confusion  and 
uproar.  The  chiefs,  coupling  the  unwelcome  announce- 
ment with  Tonty's  attempted  departure,  turned  fiercely 
upon  him,  and  asserted  that  he  was  in  reality  a  friend  of 
the  Iroquois  and  was  seeking  to  destroy  the  Illinois,  just 
as  they  had  been  warned  by  certain  Frenchmen  who  they 
now  knew  were  speaking  the  truth,  ^^  It  was  a  critical 
moment  for  this  much-tried  man  and  his  few  companions, 
alone  in  the  wilderness,  beyond  the  hope  of  aid,  with  one 
hostile  savage  host  approaching,  and  another  surround- 
ing them,  eager  for  their  blood.  But  Tonty  never  lost 
courage.  Facing  his  accusers  with  a  steady  eye,  he 
simply  replied  that  he  would  show  them  that  they  were 
wrong  by  joining  them  with  his  young  men  to  do 
battle  against  the  Iroquois  to  the    death.      The    fickle 


lOO     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

crowd,  rejoicing  at  the  prospect  of  such  support,  at  once 
changed  their  demeanor  and  hailed  him  as  their  leader. 
In  better  spirits  they  sent  out  their  spies,  who  soon 
reported  that  the  Iroquois  numbered  six  or  seven  hun- 
dred warriors,  mostly  bearing  firearms.  The  opposing 
forces  were  unequal,  for  many  of  the  Illinois  were  away, 
and  there  remained  barely  five  hundred,  the  greater  part 
of  whom  had  only  bows  and  arrows.  Their  young  men 
passed  the  night  in  feasting,  and  their  women  and  children 
were  sent  to  a  place  of  safety.  At  daybreak,  in  battle 
array,  they  forded  the  stream  with  Tonty,  Boisrondet  and 
Renault,  and  climbed  the  hills  opposite  the  village  to  the 
great  prairie  lying  beyond.  L'Esperance  remained  at 
their  cabin  to  guard  La  Salle's  papers,  which  they  had 
brought  from  Cr^vecoeur.  As  they  reached  the  open 
space  they  saw  the  Iroquois,  who  were  massed  in  front 
of  the  woods  lining  the  course  of  the  River  Aramoni, 
now  called  the  Vermilion.  The  Illinois,  realizing  their 
danger,  besought  Tonty  to  hasten  to  their  foes  with  a  col- 
lar of  wampum  as  a  sign  for  a  parley,  and  to  make  a 
peace  with  them.  The  intrepid  soldier  did  not  hesitate, 
though  he  could  not  speak  the  Iroquois  tongue,  and 
crossed  the  intervening  space,  accompanied  by  a  single 
Indian,  and  leaving  his  arms  behind.  At  a  musket  shot's 
distance  he  displayed  the  collar,  the  meaning  of  which 
the  Iroquois  well  knew,  but  they  opened  fire  notwith- 
standing. Sending  back  his  companion  Tonty  pressed  on 
amid  the  discharge  of  the  guns,  and  entered  the  Iroquois 
lines,  resolved  to  hold  his  parley  and  save  the  Illinois,  or 
die  in  the  attempt."  A  Mohegan  chief,  a  wanderer  from 
far  New  England,  serving  with  the  Five  Nations,  gave 
him  a  friendly  embrace,  and,  taking  the  collar  from  his 
hand,  cried  out ;  "  It  is  a  Frenchman. ' '    At  the  word  other 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  loi 

Mohegans  gathered  to  protect  him,  but  one  of  the  Onon- 
dagas,  who  had  been  incited  against  La  Salle,  either  mis- 
taking the  ambassador  for  him  or  not  recognizing  Tonty 
in  his  savage  garb  as  a  white  man  at  all,  gave  him  a  cruel 
stab  in  the  left  breast.  Others  fell  upon  him,  he  received 
another  wound  in  the  side,  and  was  stripped  of  his  cloth- 
ing and  his  hat  was  placed  on  the  end  of  a  gun.  The 
young  Illinois  whom  he  had  ordered  to  retire,  saw  as  he 
looked  back  the  treatment  Tonty  was  receiving,  and  when 
the  hat  was  waved  aloft  fully  believed  that  he  had  been 
killed.  He  so  announced  to  the  Illinois,  who  put  them- 
selves in  motion  at  once,  and  boldly  advanced  to  avenge 
the  gallant  Frenchman,  with  the  brave  young  Boisron- 
det  and  Renault  at  their  head.  The  chiefs  of  the  Iroquois 
meanwhile  held  a  council,  squatting  in  a  circle  on  the 
grass,  and  Tonty,  stunned  and  bleeding,  was  brought 
before  them.  They  seated  him  among  them  and  pro- 
ceeded to  interrogate  him,  while  one  of  them  at  his  back, 
with  a  knife  in  his  hand,  every  now  and  then  raised  his 
hair  as  if  to  take  his  scalp.  Wounded  and  half  naked  as 
he  was,  and  able  to  speak  to  them  only  through  another 
New  England  Indian,  of  the  Saco  tribe,  who  acted  as 
interpreter,  Tonty  dauntlessly  reproached  them  for  mak- 
ing war  upon  the  Illinois,  and  threatened  them  with  the 
vengeance  of  Count  Frontenac." 

At  this  juncture  the  assembly  was  interrupted  by  the 
intelligence  that  the  Illinois  with  their  French  allies  had 
driven  back  the  left  wing  of  the  Iroquois  and  wounded 
nine  and  slain  one.  This  fortunate  diversion  changed 
the  situation.  The  chiefs,  who  a  moment  before  had 
been  ready  to  slay  Tonty,  now  hurriedly  assured  him  that 
he  had  nothing  to  fear,  and  eagerly  asked  the  numbers  of 
their  opponents.    Making  the  best  of  the  matter,  he  gave 


I02     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

them  to  understand  that  eleven  hundred  Indians  and 
fifty  of  the  French  were  arrayed  against  them.  With 
such  odds  they  thought  it  useless  to  contend,  and  begged 
him  forthwith  to  carry  a  wampum  collar  from  them  to 
the  Illinois,  to  urge  them  to  return  to  their  village,  to 
send  com  to  their  hungry  foes  and  to  make  peace.  In 
great  joy  at  this  unexpected  ending  of  his  perilous  adven- 
ture, Tonty  regained  the  Illinois  lines,  though  so  weak 
from  loss  of  blood  that  he  could  hardly  stand.  The  truce 
which  both  parties  desired  was  readily  agreed  upon;  the 
Iroquois  pretended  to  retrace  their  steps,  and  the  Illinois 
moved  towards  the  river,  bearing  Tonty  with  them.  A 
league  from  the  village  they  met  the  good  priest  Mem- 
bra, who  in  his  secluded  retreat  had  been  late  to  hear  of 
Tonty' s  danger,  and  was  now  hurrying  to  stanch  his 
wounds  or  render  him  the  last  offices  of  the  Church,  if  he 
were  mortally  hurt.  The  wily  Iroquois  were  meanwhile 
following  closely  upon  the  rear  detachment  of  the  Illinois 
and  becoming  mingled  with  them.  Their  leaders 
entreated  Tonty  to  prevent  this,  and,  too  much  exhausted 
to  go  in  person,  he  sent  Membr^  to  deliver  his  com- 
mands that  they  should  advance  no  further.  They  halted 
for  the  moment,  and  the  man  who  alone  had  stayed  the 
battle  that  day  struggled  through  the  ford,  and,  bleeding 
from  side  and  breast  and  mouth,  lay  down  in  the  nearest 
cabin." 

It  was  not  long  before  the  Iroquois,  in  constantly 
increasing  numbers,  began  to  find  their  way  to  the  vil- 
lage on  the  pretext  of  needing  provisions.  The  Illinois, 
distrusting  them,  withdrew  and  went  to  join  their  wives 
and  children.  Their  foes  burned  most  of  the  cabins  to 
guard  against  surprise,  and  built  a  rude  fort  with  the 
materials  of  the  others.     The  Frenchmen  at  first  were 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  103 

suflFered  to  remain  in  a  cabin  some  distance  away,  per- 
haps the  same  in  which  the  priests  were  dwelling,  but 
soon  were  suspected  of  communicating  with  the  Illinois, 
and  compelled  to  remove  to  the  Fort.  Tonty  and  Mem- 
bra, with  an  Iroquois  hostage,  were  sent  to  induce  the 
Illinois  to  make  peace,  for  Tonty's  story  of  their  strength 
was  still  believed.  A  young  Illinois  hostage,  however, 
who  came  to  the  Iroquois  in  return,  revealed  the  truth 
to  them,  and  owned  that  his  people  had  only  four  hun- 
dred warriors  and  would  gladly  give  many  beaver  skins 
and  release  their  Iroquois  captives,  if  only  peace  could 
be  made.  The  leaders  of  the  Iroquois  host,  in  great 
wrath  at  the  deception  practiced  upon  them,  summoned 
Tonty  to  the  fort  and  upbraided  him  for  his  stratagem, 
asking  in  fine  scorn  for  the  eleven  hundred  warriors  and 
fifty  Frenchmen  of  whom  he  had  told  them.  He  admits 
that  he  had  much  difficulty  in  explaining  the  matter,  and 
doubtless  many  in  that  throng  were  ready  to  take  his 
life."  But  there  was  something  in  his  utter  fearlessness 
which  impressed  even  these  ferocious  creatures,  and  his 
appeal  to  Count  Frontenac  had, weight.  It  may  be,  too, 
that  the  tales  of  the  strange  might  of  his  right  arm 
invested  him  in  their  eyes  with  supernatural  power. 
Never  did  old  Baldwin  of  Flanders  so  truly  deserve  the 
name  of  Bras  de  Fer  as  did  this  slender,  quiet  man,  who 
had  more  than  once  on  this  perilous  journey  restored 
order  among  brawling  savages  by  blows  so  weighty  that 
the  recipients  with  one  accord  hailed  him  as  a  "great  med- 
icine, ' '  and  spread  far  and  wide  the  fame  of  him  to  whom 
they  gave  a  name  in  their  own  tongue  meaning  the  man 
with  the  iron  arm.^^  The  Iroquois  did  not  harm  him,  and 
decided  to  make  a  false  peace  with  the  Illinois,  which 
they  concluded  in  their  usual  fashion  with  gifts,  signify- 


104     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

ing  that  Count  Frontenac  and  La  Salle  were  angry  at 
their  coming  to  molest  their  brethren,  and  that  there- 
after they  would  act  towards  them  as  brothers  should. 
They  secretly  offered  presents  to  Tonty  for  his  consent 
to  the  overthrow  of  the  Illinois.  These  he  spurned,  and 
warned  the  intended  victims  to  put  no  faith  in  their  ene- 
mies, who  were  covertly  constructing  canoes  of  elm  bark^* 
in  order  to  follow  them  more  easily,  and  urged  them  to 
fly  to  distant  parts  before  they  were  betrayed. 

The  chiefs  of  the  Five  Nations,  suspecting  this  inter- 
ference with  their  plans,  but  hardly  daring  to  make  away 
with  Tonty,  resolved  that  his  party  should  leave.  Call- 
ing him  and  Membr^  to  a  council,  they  gave  them  seats 
and  placed  before  them  six  packets  of  beaver  skins."  The 
first  two  were  to  inform  Count  Frontenac  that  they  would 
not  eat  his  children,  and  to  assuage  his  wrath  for  what 
they  had  already  done ;  the  third  was  a  plaster  for  Tonty 's 
wound,  which  they  said  had  been  inflicted  by  a  heedless 
youth;  the  fourth  was  oil  for  his  and  Membre's  limbs 
after  their  lung  journeys;  the  fifth  betokened  that  the 
sun  was  bright;  and  the  sixth  meant  that  they  should 
take  advantage  of  that  fact  and  leave  the  next  day  for 
Canada.  Tonty  sturdily  demanded  to  know  when  they 
themselves  were  going  away.  Their  anger  rose  at  this 
implied  defiance.  Murmurs  were  heard,  and  some  of 
them  replied  that  they  would  first  devour  some  of  the 
Illinois.  Upon  this  he  thrust  away  their  gifts  with  his 
foot,  saying  that  he  would  have  none  of  them,  since  they 
desired  to  eat  the  children  of  Onontio.  This,  according 
to  savage  etiquette,  was  an  almost  unpardonable  affront, 
and  so  he  was  told  by  an  Abenaki  Indian  among  them, 
who  spoke  French.  One  of  the  offended  dignitaries  seized 
Tonty  by  the  arm,  and  ordered  him  to  retire,  and  the 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  105 

others  rising  drove  him  from  the  council.  At  once  they 
began  to  sing  their  war  songs  as  at  the  opening  of  a  bat- 
tle. Tonty  and  his  comrades  went  to  their  cabin  and 
passed  the  night  on  guard,  believing  that  no  quarter 
would  be  given  them,  and  that  they  would  not  live  till 
morning,  but  resolved  to  make  some  of  their  assailants 
bite  the  dust  before  their  own  lives  should  be  taken. 
But  again  the  danger  passed  by,  and  at  daybreak  the  Iro- 
quois contented  themselves  with  a  peremptory  order  to 
depart  forthwith,  only  requiring  a  letter  to  Count  Fron- 
tenac  to  show  that  the  white  men  had  suffered  no  harm 
at  their  hands.  This  Tonty  gave  them,  taking  advantage 
of  this  means  of  communication  to  send  to  the  Governor 
a  brief  account  of  what  had  taken  place  in  the  Illinois 
country.^* 

On  September  i8th  Tonty,  with  the  two  priests  and 
three  soldiers,  for  Boisrondet,  Renault  and  L'Esperance 
had  well  earned  that  title,  embarked  to  ascend  the  river. 
He  had  done  all  that  mortal  could  do  in  most  trying 
times,  with  a  valor  and  a  loyalty  beyond  praise,  and  only 
withdrew  under  compulsion  and  after  he  had  rendered 
every  possible  service  to  his  allies.  Even  now  his  pros- 
pects were  far  from  promising.  The  party  of  six  had  but 
one  wretched  bark  canoe,  with  little  ammunition  or  pro- 
visions. Tonty  believed  La  Salle  to  be  dead,  but  desir- 
ing still  the  success  of  his  plans,  took  all  the  beaver  skins 
he  could  carry,  to  use  them  in  the  accomplishment  of  his 
leader's  great  project  of  discovery.^'  Father  Ribourde 
threw  several  of  these  to  the  Iroquois,  saying  that  he  was 
not  there  to  amass  furs,  but  was  persuaded  to  leave  the 
cargo  in  charge  of  the  secular  members  of  the  expedi- 
tion.^ The  next  day  their  sorry  craft  striking  a  rock 
and  breaking,  they  were  compelled  to  land  about  noon 


io6     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

to  repair  it,  and  to  dry  their  clothes  and  peltries."  Father 
Ribourde,  seeing  before  him  a  beautiful  stretch  of  prairie 
swelling  into  hills  clad  with  groves  of  noble  trees  stand- 
ing in  as  regular  order  as  if  planted  by  man,  bethought 
himself  to  seek  amidst  their  shades  a  quiet  place  for 
prayer  and  meditation.  Setting  forth  with  his  breviary 
in  his  hand,  he  told  Tonty  of  his  purpose,  and  was 
warned  not  to  stray  far  away,  because  they  were  not  yet 
safe  from  their  enemies.  The  others  were  busy  with  the 
canoe  until  evening,  when,  alarmed  at  their  companion's 
failure  to  return,  they  went  in  search  of  him,  and  fired 
their  guns  repeatedly  to  direct  him  to  them.  Tonty  fol- 
lowed his  footprints  for  a  mile  or  more,  until  these  were 
lost  among  the  fresh  tracks  of  a  number  of  persons,  and 
no  further  trace  could  be.  found.  Returning  with  this 
sad  news,  all  felt  that  the  good  priest  had  been  killed  or 
taken  prisoner,  and  that  they  themselves  were  in  danger. 
They  crossed  the  river  in  the  canoe,  leaving  its  lading  on 
the  bank,  and  keeping  watch  through  the  night,  saw  sev- 
eral human  forms  prowling  about  their  camp  fire  on  the 
opposite  shore.  In  the  morning  they  re-crossed  and  waited 
until  noon,  but  no  one  came.  Upon  searching  the  woods 
they  found  signs  of  ambuscades,  which  made  it  perilous 
to  remain  longer.  At  three  in  the  afternoon  they 
embarked,  designing  to  proceed  by  short  journeys,  in  the 
hope  that  the  missing  one  might  escape  or  might  only 
have  lost  his  way,  and  would  be  able  to  overtake  them. 
It  was  barely  possible,  too,  that  he  had  preceded  them 
along  the  bank,  but  they  looked  in  vain  for  the  familiar 
form  at  every  bend  of  the  stream.  Later  they  learned 
that  their  comrade  had  met  his  fate  soon  after  leaving 
them,  at  the  hands  of  some  cowardly  Kickapoos,  skulking 
in  the  rear  of  the  Iroquois,  with  whom  they  professed  to 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  107 

be  at  war.  Three  of  them  in  the  advance  came  upon  the 
venerable  man  at  his  devotions  in  the  woods,  and  cruelly 
pierced  him  with  arrows  and  took  his  scalp.  This  they 
bore  in  triumph  to  their  village,  pretending  it  was  that 
of  an  Iroquois,  and  carried  thither  also  his  breviary  and 
rosary,  which  ultimately  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  Jesuit 
missionary,  who  ascertained  the  particulars  of  the  death 
of  Ribourde.  His  body,  hidden  by  his  slayers,  was  found 
by  some  of  the  Illinois,  who  bore  it  reverently  to  their 
village,  where  they  buried  it  in  their  manner,  doing  honor 
to  him  who  had  gone  among  them  for  their  good.*^  So 
perished  the  first  martyr  upon  Illinois  soil,  Gabriel  de  La 
Ribourde.  He  was  in  the  sixty-fourth  year  of  his  age, 
the  only  male  child  and  heir  of  a  gentleman  of  Burgundy, 
and  noted  in  France  and  in  Canada  for  his  saintliness  and 
devotion  to  the  mission  cause,  for  which  he  gave  up  home 
and  friends,  fortune  and  life.  He  had  for  a  long  time,  in 
his  extreme  grief  at  the  utter  blindness  of  the  natives, 
declared  that  he  longed  to  be  sacrificed  for  their  salva- 
tion. His  colleague,  mourning  his  loss,  yet  believed  that 
he  would  not  have  wished  for  a  happier  fate  than  to  die 
in  the  exercise  of  his  apostolic  functions,  by  the  hands  of 
those  to  whom  he  had  been  sent.  Somewhere  on  the 
south  bank  of  the  Illinois  River,  midway  between  the 
Fox  and  the  Des  Plaines,  is  the  place  where  closed  the 
noble  career  of  this  Apostle  of  the  West. 

His  late  associates  went  sorrowfully  forward,  but  ere 
they  reached  their  journey's  end  they  almost  rejoiced  that 
he  had  been  spared  the  terrible  sufferings  they  were 
forced  to  endure.  The  next  evening  they  heard  a  shot 
in  the  woods  near  them,  and  stood  to  their  arms  all  night, 
believing  that  they  were  pursued.  Arriving  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Kankakee  and  the  Des  Plaines,  they  took  the 


io8     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

latter  stream,  which  they  called  the  Divine,  as  Jolliet  had 
done.  Tonty  left  no  mark  there  of  their  passing,  for 
which  he  was  afterwards  blamed,  but  he  doubtless 
thought  it  useless,  because  so  certain  that  his  commander 
was  dead,  and  that  no  other  man  could  come  to  his  relief. 
La  Salle  and  La  Forest  were  at  this  very  time  at  Mack- 
inac, urgently  preparing  an  expedition  to  the  Illinois. 
Had  Tonty  taken  the  route  of  the  Kankakee  and  St. 
Joseph  and  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Michigan  to  Mack- 
inac, as  he  first  intended,  he  would  have  met  them  by 
the  way.  But  he  had  no  means  of  knowing  this,  and  the 
lateness  of  the  season  and  his  scanty  equipment  naturally 
led  him  to  think  it  best  to  make  for  the  nearest  French 
settlement,  the  Mission  of  St.  Fran§ois  Xavier  at  Green 
Bay.  Soon  after  entering  the  Des  Plaines  need  of  food 
obliged  Tonty,  although  suffering  from  a  severe  attack  of 
fever,  to  seek  for  game.  He  was  fortunate  enough  to  kill 
a  buffalo,  and  laden  with  its  meat  returned  to  camp 
exhausted.  A  little  rest  was  necessary,  but  the  best 
canoeman,  Renault,  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  delay, 
wished  to  leave  the  others  and  push  forward  by  land 
alone.  Tonty  nobly  gave  him  full  permission,  but  Father 
Membr^  would  not  suffer  it,  and  shamed  him  into  remain- 
ing. The  party  soon  moved  onward  along  the  winding 
Des  Plaines,  until  they  reached  a  shallow  valley  leading 
eastward,  and  through  it  came  to  Mud  Lake,  and  by  a 
portage  to  the  south  branch  of  the  Chicago  River,*'  pass- 
ing on  its  waters  the  hillock  on  which  Marquette  had 
wintered  six  years  before.  This  was  Tonty's  first  visit 
to  the  site  of  Chicago,  and  on  the  roll  of  the  early  explor- 
ers associated  with  it  his  name  comes  next  after  those  of 
Jolliet  and  Marquette  and  La  Salle.  Doubtless  more 
than  one  enterprising  coureur  de  bois,  or  voyageur,  by 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  109 

this  time  knew  the  place  well,  but  their  names  have  not 
come  down  to  us. 

The  little  band  followed  the  Chicago  River,  also  known 
like  the  Des  Plaines  as  the  Divine,  by  its  long  southward 
bend  to  the  waves  of  Lake  Michigan.  Then  turning 
northward  they  coasted  the  western  shore,  while  Tonty's 
increasing  fever  and  swollen  limbs  made  him  almost  help- 
less. On  the  evening  of  November  ist  a  sudden  gale 
wrecked  their  canoe  on  the  beach.  Too  feeble  to  carry 
their  peltries,  they  placed  them  in  a  cache  or  underground 
hiding  place,  which  Boisrondet,  with  food  for  ten  days, 
was  left  to  guard.  The  other  four  sought  to  go  afoot  to 
the  Pottawattamie  village,  believed  to  be  but  eight 
leagues  distant.  It  was  really  twenty  leagues  away,  and 
their  provisions  soon  gave  out.  They  lived  on  acorns 
and  wild  garlic  found  under  the  snow,  and  Tonty's  con- 
dition made  their  progress  very  slow,  especially  through 
the  great  ravines  which  crossed  their  path.  Saint  Mar- 
tin's Day,  the  nth  of  November,  they  came  upon  the 
skin  and  feet  of  a  deer  left  by  the  wolves,  and  made  a 
feast  of  these  at  the  Pottawattamie  village,  which  they 
reached  only  to  find  it  deserted.  Halting  here,  they 
devoured  the  leather  straps  of  the  lodge  poles,  and  even  a 
shield  of  buffalo  hide  discarded  by  some  savage  warrior. 
By  good  fortune  they  discovered  a  quantity  of  frozen 
squashes  and  stored  them  for  future  use  in  a  cabin  by  the 
lake.  They  took  for  their  habitation  another  cabin  in  the 
woods  on  a  hill,  where  they  found  a  little  Indian  corn  and 
roasted  it  for  food.  Disappointed  at  not  meeting  the 
friendly  tribe  on  which  they  had  relied  for  aid  tq  reach 
Green  Bay,  they  determined  that  their  only  course  was 
to  go  to  Mackinac,  and  to  leave  Boisrondet  to  his  fate, 
since  it  was  impossible  to  return  with  supplies  to  him. 


no     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

They  had  repaired  an  old  canoe  left  in  the  village  by  the 
Pottawattamies,  and  were  preparing  to  depart  when  a 
noise  was  heard  in  the  cabin  by  the  lake,  and  their  miss- 
ing comrade  suddenly  appeared.  He  had  set  out  to  follow 
his  companions,  missed  the  way,  and  wandered  for  ten 
days  in  the  wintry  wastes.  He  had  exhausted  his  supply 
of  bullets  and  lost  his  gun  flint,  but  melted  a  pewter  cup 
into  slugs  and  discharged  his  piece  with  a  firebrand,  and 
so  managed  to  kill  some  wild  turkeys,  on  which  he  sub- 
sisted until  he  came  to  the  village.  At  the  shore  cabin 
he  fancied  that  the  store  of  provisions  had  been  left  for 
him  by  his  friends  at  their  departure,  and  had  regaled 
himself  with  these  for  three  days  before  he  discovered 
their  proximity.  They  felt  great  joy  at  seeing  him,  and 
great  sadness  at  the  diminution  of  their  small  supply  of 
portable  food.*'* 

The  recruited  party  once  more  embarked  and  paddled 
northward  for  a  few  hours,  when  a  great  wind  compelled 
them  to  land.  Fresh  footprints  and  a  beaten  trail  showed 
them  the  way  to  a  portage  of  about  a  league,  over  which 
they  with  difficulty  dragged  their  canoe  and  its  contents 
the  next  day.  They  followed  Sturgeon  Creek  into  Green 
Bay,  and  went  northward  again  in  the  hope  of  finding 
the  savages,  who  seemed  ever  just  before  them.  At  the 
distance  of  two  leagues  some  cabins  were  seen  which 
apparently  had  been  but  recently  abandoned.  The  next 
day  they  made  five  leagues  more,  but  a  northeast  wind, 
with  a  heavy  fall  of  snow,  stayed  their  progress  for  five 
days,  in  which  their  scanty  stock  of  provisions  was 
entirely  consumed.  Despairing  of  overtaking  the  natives 
they  determined  to  return  to  the  Pottawattamie  village, 
where  there  was  wood  and  shelter,  so  that  they  could  at 
least  die  warm.     Re-entering  Sturgeon  Creek,  they  saw 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  in 

the  smoke  of  a  fire,  and  joyfully  hastened  to  it,  to  be 
again  disappointed,  as  there  was  no  one  there.  They 
encamped,  thinking  to  follow  the  elusive  savages  back  to 
the  village  in  the  morning,  but  the  creek  froze  in  the 
night  so  solidly  that  they  could  not  use  their  canoe.  To 
go  on  foot  it  was  necessary  to  replace  their  womout 
shoes,  and  they  set  about  making  these  from  poor  Father 
Gabriel's  cloak.  Tonty  reproved  Renault  for  delaying 
his  portion  of  the  task,  which  prevented  their  starting  as 
soon  as  they  had  expected.  He  excused  himself  because 
of  indigestion  resulting  from  his  breakfast  of  a  piece  of 
the  rawhide  shield.  The  next  day,  December  4th,  while 
Tonty  was  pressing  him  to  finish  his  shoes,  and  he  was 
still  excusing  himself  on  the  score  of  illness,  it  proved 
that  this  delay  was  the  cause  of  their  being  saved.  Two 
Kiskakon  Indians,  on  their  way  to  the  place  where  the 
Pottawattamies  were  encamped,  noticed  the  smoke  of  the 
Frenchmen's  campfire,  and  landed  to  investigate.  When 
the  poor  wretches  saw  them  they  made  a  great  rejoicing, 
and  most  gladly  went  with  them  to  the  Pottawattamies, 
who  were  only  two  leagues  distant.  Had  the  white  men 
gone  to  the  deserted  village  they  must  have  perished  there 
for  lack  of  food.  Now  they  found  themselves  among 
friends,  and  some  of  their  own  race,  for  five  French 
hunters,  who  were  wintering  with  these  Indians,  vied  with 
them  in  ministering  to  the  wants  of  this  forlorn  company. 
The  chief,  Onanghisse,  well  known  among  all  the  tribes  of 
that  region,  welcomed  them  most  cordially  and  harangued 
his  people  in  their  behalf.  He  was  the  same  who  met 
La  Salle  at  the  entrance  of  Green  Bay  the  year  before, 
and  was  so  impressed  by  him  that  he  used  to  say  that  he 
knew  only  three  great  captains,  Monsieur  de  Frontenac, 
Monsieur  de  La  Salle  and  himself. 


112     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

Thus,  as  Tonty  says,  from  the  dire  need  in  which  they 
had  been,  they  came  at  once  into  abundance  after  thirty- 
four  days  of  terrible  want.  Since  the  wreck  of  their  first 
canoe  until  now  they  had  suffered  everything  but  death. 

We  may  well  believe  Father  Membr6  when  he  tells  us 
that  not  one  of  them  could  stand  for  weakness ;  that  they 
were  all  like  skeletons,  and  that  Tonty  was  extremely  ill. 
When  recruited  a  little  the  priest  joined  some  natives 
going  to  the  Mission  of  St.  Frangois  Xavier,  and  after 
further  great  hardships  reached  the  home  of  the  Jesuit 
Fathers,  who  received  him  very  kindly.  Tonty  spent 
the  winter  with  the  friendly  Pottawattamies,  who  cared 
for  him  assiduously,  and  seems  later  to  have  followed 
Membre  to  the  little  mission  settlement  at  the  head  of 
Green  Bay.^'^  Thus  was  completed  another  of  those  ardu- 
ous journeys  which  characterize  the  early  history  of  Illi- 
nois, and  one  which  resulted  directly  from  the  first 
attempt  to  establish  civilization  within  its  borders.  For 
heroic  endurance  it  can  hardly  be  surpassed  in  any 
annals. 

While  Tonty  and  his  companions  were  toiling  north- 
ward, the  great  Illinois  village  had  become  a  scene  of 
desolation.  Even  before  his  departure  the  Iroquois  had 
begun  to  destroy  the  corn  stored  there  and  to  desecrate 
its  burial  places.  They  continued  their  ghoulish  work 
until  they  set  out  to  follow  the  fleeing  Illinois  down  the 
river.  Later  a  band  of  Kickapoos,  dogging  the  steps  of 
the  Iroquois  as  jackals  those  of  a  lion,  and  probably  the 
same  who  had  slain  the  blameless  Ribourde,  completed 
the  devastation  which  La  Salle  found  there  in  the  suc- 
ceeding December.  Some  of  the  Illinois  fugitives, 
among  whom  apparently  was  the  native  assistant  of  Mem- 
bra and  Ribourde,  in  their  rude  chapel  near  the  great  vil- 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  113 

lage,  went  northward,  and  ultimately  reached  Green  Bay. 
They  brought  the  chalice  and  sacerdotal  vestments  from 
this  chapel,  with  reverent  care,  to  the  Mission  of  St. 
Fran9ois  Xavier.  Here  Hennepin  obtained  them  on  his 
return,  late  in  1680,  from  his  adventurous  journey  to  the 
country  of  the  Sioux,  and  thus  was  enabled  to  celebrate 
the  mass  for  his  party.*® 

The  cause  of  this  Iroquois  raid,  which  utterly  depopu- 
lated the  land  of  the  Illinois,  and  brought  La  Salle's  plans 
to  naught  for  a  time,  was  threefold.  The"  first  is  found 
in  the  character  of  the  famous  confederacy  of  the  Five 
Nations,  well  described  in  the  contemporary  chronicle  of 
the  enterprises  of  La  Salle.  The  five  tribes  inhabiting 
central  New  York,  between  the  Hudson  and  the  Niagara, 
and  collectively  named  Iroquois  by  the  French,  were 
known  among  themselves  as  Hodenosaunee,  or  People  of 
the  Long  House,  of  which  the  Ganeagaono  or  Mohawks 
kept  the  eastern  door,  and  thence  westward  in  order  were 
the  Onayotekaono  or  Oneidas,  the  Onundagaono  or  Onon- 
dagas,  the  Gweugwehono  or  Cayugas,  and  the  Nundawa- 
ono  or  Senecas.  The  French  synonyms  for  their  sepa- 
rate tribal  names  Were  Agniers,  Onneiouts,  Onnontagii6s, 
Oiogouins,  and  Tsonnontouans,  the  last  and  westernmost 
being  the  most  powerful  of  all.  The  Iroquois  lived  in 
perfect  harmony  themselves,  but  were  almost  always 
embroiled  with  other  people.  They  were  politic,  artful, 
perfidious,  vindictive  and  indescribably  cruel.  Though 
numbering  but  twenty-five  hundred  warriors,  their  supe- 
rior weapons  and  experience  in  warfare  had  enabled  them 
to  defeat  and  finally  to  exterminate  all  their  neighbors. 
They  had  carried  their  arms  on  every  side  eight  hundred 
leagues  around,  from  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  on  the 
north  to  Florida  on  the  south,  and  beyond  the  Mississippi 


114     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

on  the  west.  They  had  destroyed  more  than  thirty 
nations,  caused  the  death  of  more  than  six  hundred  thou- 
sand persons  within  eighty  years,  and  rendered  the 
country  about  the  Great  Lakes  a  desert.  Some  twenty 
years  before  the  period  under  consideration,  they  had 
made  an  expedition  against  the  Outagamis  in  Wiscon- 
sin, and  on  their  way  came  in  contact  with  the  Illinois 
and  killed  a  number  of  them.  These  hostilities  were 
renewed  in  succeeding  years,  until  the  Illinois  were 
forced  to  abandon  their  country  and  retire  across  the  Mis- 
sissippi. Later  the  Iroquois  had  made  war  upon  and 
entirely  destroyed  the  Andastes,  a  powerful  people 
dwelling  on  the  lower  Susquehanna.  The  southern  tribes 
had  submitted  to  their  despotic  rule,  and  those  of  the 
north  were  under  the  protection  of  the  French.  Hence, 
when  they  sought  fresh  occupation  for  their  blood-stained 
weapons,  these  insatiable  demons  naturally  turned  their 
restless  eyes  westward.  The  Miamis  and  the  Illinois 
were  their  nearest  prey.  The  former  were  just  establish- 
ing themselves  on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Joseph.  The  lat- 
ter, while  the  Iroquois  were  busied  elsewhere,  had 
returned  to  their  own  land,  and  recently  had  cut  off  small 
parties  of  their  dreaded  foemen  coming  thither  in  scorn- 
ful confidence  to  hunt  the  beaver.  Together  the  two 
western  tribes  might  have  withstood  the  onslaught,  but 
the  crafty  sachems  of  the  Five  Nations  skillfully  plotted 
to  array  them  against  each  other,  and  made  their  own 
losses  at  the  hands  of  the  Illinois  the  pretext  for  the 
war." 

Next  to  the  savage  desire  of  the  Iroquois  to  devour  new 
nations,  the  commercial  interests  involved  tended  to  set 
their  gory  hordes  in  motion.  Situated  as  they  were 
between  the   English  and  the    French,  and  alternately 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  115 

conspiring  against  and  dealing  with  the  one  and  the 
other,  they  controlled  the  exchange  of  furs  for  the  liquor 
and  ammunition  which  only  the  white  men  could  fur- 
nish. As  the  supply  of  beaver  and  other  animals 
decreased  in  their  neighborhood,  they  were  forced  to 
seek  new  hunting  fields  and  to  wrest  them  from  their 
native  owners.  To  this  also  they  were  urged  by  the 
secret  advices  of  the  English  governor  of  New  York,  who 
saw  with  concern  the  increasing  trade  between  the  west- 
em  tribes  and  the  French  at  Montreal,  and  trusted 
through  the  Iroquois  to  turn  it  to  his  own  colony.  Fur- 
thermore, La  Salle's  plans  were  opposed  to  the  interests 
of  the  middlemen  and  dealers  in  peltries  among  his  own 
nation.^  They  feared  the  monopoly  he  might  establish 
under  his  royal  patent,  and  his  direct  dispatch  of  furs  to 
the  home  market  either  by  sea  or  by  his  own  vessels  on 
the  Great  Lakes.  Then,  too,  the  news  of  the  discoveries 
made  by  the  early  visitors  to  the  country  of  the  Illinois 
had  spread  rapidly,  and  already  many  coureurs  de  bois 
had  found  their  way  to  this  wonderful  land.^  These 
poachers  on  La  Salle's  preserves  joined  with  the  mer- 
chants who  employed  them,  to  arouse  the  Iroquois  against 
him  and  his  allies.  Evidence  of  this  had  come  to  La 
Salle's  knowledge  before  leaving  Fort  Frontenac  on  his 
first  journey  to  the  Illinois  country,  and  further  proofs 
were  afforded  during  his  visit  to  the  Senecas  near  the 
Niagara  River,  when  he  secured  their  consent  to  the 
building  of  Le  Griffon.  He  found  there  an  embassy 
from  the  Miamis,  sent  to  arrange  concert  of  action  with 
the  Iroquois,  bearing  letters  from  some  Frenchmen  who 
were  ill  disposed  to  him.  There  was  good  reason  to 
believe  that  these  enemies  of  his  own  race  were  seeking 
to  bring  about  the  direct  destruction  of  La  Salle  and  his 


ii6     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

party,  or  to  accomplish  the  same  end  by  embroiling  them 
with  the  Iroquois.^" 

Lastly,  combined  with  this  commercial  opposition  to 
La  Salle,  was  the  clerical  enmity  he  had  provoked,  and 
which  sometimes,  perhaps  unwittingly,  supplied  fuel  to 
Iroquois  wrath.  Count  Frontenac  was  a  bitter  opponent 
of  the  Jesuits,  and  to  La  Salle,  as  his  protege,  they  were 
hostile.  His  plans  of  colonization  and  trade,  moreover, 
were  opposed  to  theirs,  since  they  desired  to  be  both 
church  and  state  in  the  wilderness,  and  to  control  it  abso- 
lutely. Father  Allouez'  withdrawal  from  the  great  Illi- 
nois village  at  the  approach  of  La  Salle  certainly  indicated 
opposition  if  not  hostility.  That  it  was  the  latter  feeling 
was  shown  by  this  priest's  resorting  to  the  Miamis  and 
furnishing  the  information  with  which  the  chief  Monso 
attempted  to  array  the  Illinois  against  La  Salle,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  leading  away  the  deserters  at  Pimiteoui. 
Allouez  again  visited  the  Illinois  while  the  bold  French 
leader  was  absent  on  his  marvelous  journey  to  Fort  Fron- 
tenac, and  incited  the  natives  against  both  La  Salle  and 
Tonty,  and  is  directly  charged  with  giving  aid  and  com- 
fort to  the  Crfevecoeur  deserters,  blessing  their  bullets 
and  predicting  a  broken  head  for  the  valiant  soldier  whom 
they  had  left  in  such  extremity.  ^^  In  the  same  line  were 
the  protection  given  by  the  Jesuits  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  to 
these  men  and  to  their  ill-gotten  gains,  and  the  preven- 
tion by  the  missionaries  at  Mackinac  of  La  Salle's  obtain- 
ing supplies  there  on  his  second  voyage  to  the  Illinois 
country. ^^  To  the  Jesuits  was  due  the  settlement  of  the 
Miamis  along  the  River  St.  Joseph.  They  were  induced 
to  remove  from  beyond  the  Mississippi  by  the  gifts  and 
persuasion  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  who  had  such  influence 
with  them  as  to  induce  them  to  agree  to  remain  neutral 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  117 

in  the  impending  war  between  the  Iroquois  and  the  Illi- 
nois. This  exactly  suited  the  crafty  sachems  of  the  Five 
Nations,  who  moreover  induced  some  of  the  Miamis,  as 
we  have  seen,  to  become  members  of  their  war  party. 
And  so  strong  was  the  bias  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries  in 
favor  of  the  Iroquois,  that  several  of  these  savage  war- 
riors, when  setting  out  on  their  campaign  against  the 
Illinois,  were  furnished  by  the  priests  in  their  villages 
with  certificates  intended  as  safeguards  in  case  they  were 
taken  prisoners.  Whatever  the  real  animus  of  the  order 
was,  these  and  other  circumstances  of  like  tenor  caused 
the  Illinois  to  firmly  believe  that  the  "black  robes"  were 
opposed  to  them  and  to  the  Frenchmen  in  alliance  with 
them.^ 

Against  such  opposing  forces  it  might  well  have  seemed 
useless  to  contend.  The  last  and  bitterest  drop  was 
added  to  La  Salle's  cup  of  sorrow,  when  a  Huron  named 
Scortas  arrived  at  the  lonely  post  at  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
Joseph  with  the  intelligence  that  Tonty  had  been  burned 
at  the  stake  by  the  Illinois.  This  falsehood,  deliberately 
contrived,  as  it  afterwards  appeared,  by  his  enemies,  con- 
vinced him  for  the  time  that  his  faithful  lieutenant  was 
no  more.^*  And  thus  these  two  brave  men,  one  at  Green 
Bay  and  one  at  Fort  Miami,  were  each  mourning  the 
other's  death  in  the  early  days  of  the  year  168 1.  During 
La  Salle's  recent  absence  from  Fort  Miami,  twenty  or 
thirty  savages  of  different  tribes  which  had  been  at  war 
with  the  English  colonies  on  the  seaboard,  wandering 
westward,  had  found  their  way  to  this  post.  They 
intended  to  join  themselves  to  the  Iroquois,  but  were  per- 
suaded to  delay  the  execution  of  their  design  until  La 
Salle's  return,  by  Nanangoucy,  who,  like  themselves,  was 
a  fugitive  from  the  east.     This  savage,  apprised  of  La 


ii8     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

Salle's  approach  by  one  of  his  dogs,  which  ran  before  him 
to  the  fort,  made  haste  to  meet  him,  and  to  inform  him 
of  the  situation.  He  told  La  Salle  that  these  strangers, 
with  about  thirty  others  who  were  on  the  way,  would  join 
him  either  at  the  Illinois  or  among  the  Miamis,  as  he 
chose,  and  only  asked  that  he  would  make  his  informant 
chief  of  the  band.  La  Salle  entrusted  the  matter  to  his 
own  native  attendant,  Ouiouilamech,  the  son  of  the  chief 
of  a  village  of  New  England  Indians  not  far  from  Boston, 
who  had  lived  at  the  west  for  four  years,  and  during  the 
past  two  had  followed  the  fortunes  of  the  French  com- 
mander with  unswerving  fidelity.  Through  him  was 
unfolded  to  these  wanderers  a  plan  for  a  firm  union 
between  them,  the  Miamis  and  the  Illinois,  under  La 
Salle's  leadership,  which  they  received  with  joy.*^ 

The  Miamis  were  soon  disposed  to  favor  the  new  alli- 
ance by  the  insolent  conduct  of  the  Iroquois.  These 
haughty  warriors,  after  their  slaughter  of  the  Tamaroas 
and  pursuit  of  the  other  tribes,  returned  by  the  River 
Ohio,  or  Baudrane,  as  La  Salle  called  it,  and  encamped 
in  the  Miami  country.  Here,  in  mere  wantonness,  they 
slew  or  took  captive  twenty  of  that  tribe,  and  establishing 
themselves  in  three  strong  forts,  mocked  at  the  Miamis, 
who  demanded  redress,  and  after  accepting  gifts  of  three 
thousand  beaver  skins  as  ransom  for  their  prisoners, 
refused  to  release  them.  A  gallant  chief  of  the  Kaskas- 
kia  tribe,  named  Paessa,  who  had  been  absent  on  a  war 
party  at  the  time  of  inroad  of  the  Iroquois,  now  came  to 
seek  vengeance  upon  them  with  a  band  of  a  hundred  of 
his  tribesmen,  and  attacked  these  forts.  The  battle 
raged  all  day,  and  the  Illinois  made  three  desperate 
charges,  but  Paessa  and  fourteen  of  his  bravest  comrades 
were  slain,   with  eight  of  the  Iroquois,  and  both  sides 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  119 

retired  from  the  conflict.  The  rest  of  the  Illinois  boldly 
pursued  their  way  towards  Lake  Erie  to  cut  off  Iroquois 
hunting  parties  there.  This  exhibition  of  valor  also 
impressed  the  Miamis  with  the  importance  of  a  reconcili- 
ation with  their  ill-treated  neighbors,  who  might  visit 
upon  them  condign  punishment  for  their  furtherance  of 
the  Iroquois  invasion.  About  this  time  a  Shawnee  chief- 
tain of  a  band  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  warriors  dwelling 
on  one  of  the  rivers  flowing  into  the  Ohio,  having  heard 
of  La  Salle's  arrival,  sent  to  request  that  his  people  might 
be  placed  under  the  guardianship  of  the  French  King. 
La  Salle  replied  that  his  country  was  too  distant  to  receive 
aid  from  Canada,  but  that  if  the  chief  chose  to  join  him 
in  the  autumn  to  go  to  the  sea,  he  would  assure  him  of  the 
royal  protection.  The  Shawnee  promised  to  be  at  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph  at  the  time  appointed  with  as 
many  as  possible  of  his  band.^ 

La  Salle  could  delay  no  longer  his  return  to  the  assist- 
ance of  D'Autray  and  the  surgeon  Michel,  who  were 
keeping  their  lonely  watch  over  the  merchandise  left  on 
the  banks  of  the  Des  Plaines.  Furthermore,  he  desired 
to  obtain  the  supplies  of  corn  which  he  had  stored,  prob- 
ably at  the  great  Illinois  village  during  his  last  stay  there, 
for  the  support  of  those  whom  he  had  resolved  to  leave 
at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph  during  the  summer,  that 
they  might  rebuild  Fort  Miami.  And  he  wished  also  to 
find  the  Illinois  and  secure  their  adherence  to  his  new 
scheme.  Accordingly  he  set  forth  on  the  ist  of  March, 
i68i,  for  the  village,  with  all  of  his  men,  including  Le 
Blanc  and  the  five  other  Frenchmen  who  had  remained 
at  the  river  mouth,  the  four  who  had  but  a  month  before 
returned  there  with  La  Salle,  and  La  Forest  and  the  three 
men  who  came  with  him,  fifteen  in  all.     Two  savages, 


I20     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

Ouiouilamech  and  another,  probably  Nanangoucy, 
accompanied  the  party.  They  traveled  on  snowshoes 
over  the  smooth  white  crust,  their  dogs  captured  before 
their  eyes  deer  and  other  game  sufficient  for  their  wants, 
and  they  made  rapid  progress  until  the  reflection  of  the 
sun  from  the  frozen  surface  made  La  Salle  and  some  of 
his  men  snow-blind.  He  was  compelled  to  encamp  for 
three  days,  but  sent  forward  most  of  his  companions, 
keeping  with  him  only  the  two  savages  and  You  and 
Hunault.  The  latter  discovered  a  fresh  trail  of  strange 
Indians,  which  he  and  Ouiouilamech  followed  for  three 
days  and  overtook  a  hunting  party  of  eighty  Outagamis 
or  Foxes,  whose  home  was  in  the  Green  Bay  region. 
These  received  them  very  well,  and  informed  them  of  the 
arrival  of  Tonty  at  the  Pottawattamie  encampment,  and 
the  return  of  Hennepin,  Ako  and  Du  Gay  from  the  land 
of  the  Sioux.  This  fortunate  intelligence  borne  quickly 
back  to  La  Salle  rejoiced  his  heart,  and  he  was  soon  able 
to  resume  his  journey.  The  melting  ice  rendering  nav- 
igation possible,  they  proceeded  in  canoes.  On  March 
15  th  they  reached  the  great  village  of  the  Illinois,  and 
met  there  ten  of  that  tribe  mourning  over  their  ruined 
homes.  La  Salle  consoled  them  with  presents,  exhorted 
them  to  make  peace  with  the  Miamis,  and  told  them  of 
his  desigfn  to  unite  the  several  tribes.  He  listened  with 
sympathy  to  their  tale  of  the  woes  they  had  suffered  at 
the  hands  of  the  Iroquois,  and  received  from  them  papers 
showing  the  complicity  of  the  Jesuits  with  their  enemies. 
The  Illinois  with  gratitude  for  his  plans  in  their  behalf, 
heartily  approved  of  them  and  passed  the  rest  of  the  diy 
in  feasting  and  dancing.  The  next  day  they  loaded  their 
canoes  with  a  hundred  minots  of  corn,  and  ascended  the 
river   to   the   place   where  D'Autray   and  his   associate 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  121 

awaited  their  welcome  arrival.  Hence  La  Salle  sent  a 
canoe  party  by  the  River  Divine,  or  Des  Plaines,  and  the 
Chicago  portage  and  along  Lake  Michigan's  western 
shore  to  find  Tonty  among  the  Pottawattamies,  and  to 
bring  back  La  Salle's  papers  if  perchance  they  had  been 
saved.  The  others  returned  to  the  junction  of  the  Kan- 
kakee and  followed  its  winding  course  to  the  portage,  and 
so  along  the  River  of  the  Miamis  to  its  mouth,  where  they 
found  everything  in  good  condition,  though  unguarded 
since  their  departure.^'' 

Immediately  upon  their  arrival  here  La  Salle  dis- 
patched La  Forest  and  four  men  in  a  canoe  to  find  the 
blacksmith  and  his  companions,  who  had  wintered  at  the 
Detroit,  and  to  request  Tonty,  in  case  he  found  him  at 
Mackinac,  to  await  La  Salle  there.  La  Forest  met  the 
delayed  party  at  Mackinac,  but  learned  that  Tonty  was 
still  at  Green  Bay,  and  sent  Jacques  Messier,  Pierre  You 
and  Andr6  Mass6  to  meet  him,  with  a  canoe  load  of  mer- 
chandise to  repay  the  friendly  Pottawattamies  and  their 
chief  Onanghisse  for  their  care  of  the  Frenchmen. 
Meanwhile  the  New  England  Indians,  described  by  La 
Salle  as  the  savages  from  Boston,  "Les  Sauvages  de  Bas- 
ton,"  notified  him  that  they  were  waiting  at  the  Miami 
village  to  conclude  the  proposed  treaty.  He  left  a  part 
of  his  men  to  clear  the  ground  for  cultivation  and  to  pre- 
pare materials,  for  the  rebuilding  of  the  fort,  and  with  the 
rest  ascended  the  St.  Joseph  to  the  Kankakee  portage. 
He  found  there  three  Iroquois  emissaries  urging  the  Mia- 
mis to  make  war  upon  the  Illinois.  These  he  treated  so 
haughtily  that  a  sudden  terror  fell  upon  them  and  they 
decamped  in  the  night.  Their  flight  gave  the  Miamis  a 
new  sense  of  the  power  of  the  French  leader,  of  whom 
the   Iroquois,  who  had   not   feared  their  whole  nation. 


122     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

showed  such  dread.  He  first  assembled  the  eastern 
Indians,  among  whom  seven  or  eight  tribes  were  repre- 
sented. Fugitives  from  King  Philip's  war  and  from 
border  conflicts  with  the  white  men  from  Maine  to  Vir- 
ginia were  here,  homeless  wanderers  in  the  forests  for 
years,  who  joyously  acceded  to  the  proposition  that  they 
should  establish  themselves  permanently  at  the  west. 
Thirty  Mohegans  from  among  them  attended  La  Salle 
like  a  bodyguard  the  next  day  when  he  held  a  solemn 
parley  with  the  Miamis,  observing  all  the  ceremony  so 
dear  to  their  barbaric  hearts.  Many  presents  were  given 
each  with  its  symbolic  meaning  appropriate  to  the  occa- 
sion, and  La  Salle  made  a  master  stroke  when  he 
announced  that  the  spirit  of  their  dead  chief,  Ouabi- 
colcata,  had  entered  into  his  person,  and  that  hereafter 
he  should  be  called  by  that  name  and  not  Okimao,  which 
had  been  his  title  among  the  Miamis.  They  made  sim- 
ilar presents  in  return,  and  sealed  the  treaty  with  dances 
and  feasts.  Three  days  later  the  Frenchmen  returned  to 
the  mouth  of  the  river,  whence  La  Salle  persuaded  his 
eastern  allies  to  send  two  of  their  number,  named  Oua- 
bach  and  Amabauso,  with  presents  of  beaver  skins  to 
their  respective  tribes,  to  invite  them  to  join  him.  This 
done  he  embarked  on  May  25th  for  Mackinac,  and  passed 
on  the  way  the  remainder  of  the  blacksmith's  party  at 
last  en  route  for  Fort  Miami.'* 

Tonty  coming  from  Green  Bay  with  his  associates  and 
Father  Enjalran,  of  the  St.  Frangois  Mission,  reached 
Mackinac  on  the  eve  of  Corpus  Christi,  June  4,  168 1,  and 
La  Salle  came  there  the  next  day.  The  two  heroes  who 
had  parted  more  than  fourteen  months  before  on  the 
banks  of  the  Illinois,  and  had  each  believed  the  other 
dead,  greeted  one  another  as  if  returned  from  the  spirit 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  123 

land.  The  good  father  Membr^,  in  his  narration,  leaves 
us  to  conceive  their  mutual  joy  chastened  though  it  was 
by  their  accounts  of  the  tragical  adventures  which  had 
happened  to  both.  La  Forest  had  been  charged  to  pro- 
ceed to  Fort  Frontenac  as  fast  as  possible,  to  exchange 
his  peltries  for  supplies  and  ammunition,  and  to  return 
to  Mackinac  by  the  last  of  May.  He  did  not  appear,  and 
therefore  La  Salle,  Tonty,  Membre  and  their  men  set  out 
themselves  for  Frontenac  by  the  route  of  Lake  Simcoe. 
At  Teioiagon,  Tonty,  with  three  of  the  party,  encamped 
on  an  island  while  the  others  went  forward,  expecting 
soon  to  return.  At  Fort  Frontenac  they  found  the 
laggard  La  Forest  attending  to  other  matters  and  not 
realizing  the  consequences  of  his  delay.  Letters  from 
Count  Frontenac  awaited  La  Salle,  summoning  him  to 
Montreal,  whither  he  went  at  once,  and  although  he 
missed  the  Count,  his  secretary,  Barrois,  assisted  him  to 
satisfy  his  creditors,  and  even  to  obtain  fresh  aid  from 
them.  His  cousin  Frangois  Plet  was  also  of  signal  serv- 
ice in  preserving  his  seignory  at  Frontenac  against  the 
efforts  of  those  who  wished  to  deprive  him  of  it,  and  in 
gratitude  and  recompense  he  executed  at  Montreal,  Aug- 
ust II,  168 1,  a  will  bequeathing  to  Plet  this  seignory  and 
all  of  La  Salle's  rights  in  the  country  of  the  Miamis,  the 
Illinois  and  the  regions  of  the  South,  and  his  other  prop- 
erty. He  had  intended  to  make  his  voyage  to  the  sea  the 
same  season,  but  his  Montreal  trip  delayed  him  too  long. 
Returning  to  Frontenac  as  soon  as  possible,  he  sent  a 
brigantine  to  Teioiagon,  conveying  Father  Membr^,  bear- 
ing letters  to  Tonty  directing  him  to  go  to  the  Miami 
country,  and  to  assemble  there  as  large  a  party  of  French 
and  Indians  as  possible.  The  untiring  soldier  and  the 
intrepid  priest  set  forth  at  once,   and  were  among  the 


124     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

Miamis  by  the  loth  of  November.  La  Salle  followed, 
leaving  La  Forest  in  command  at  Frontenac,  but  delayed 
by  a  fifteen  days'  portage  of  his  merchandise  to  Lake 
Simcoe,  and  an  epidemic  of  fever  among  his  men,  both 
red  and  white  alike,  he  did  not  reach  Fort  Miami  until 
December  igth,^® 

As  their  commander  landed  at  the  appointed  meeting 
place,  Tonty  and  Membr^  and  two  of  their  men  came  to 
greet  him.  Five  others,  among  whom  was  the  interpre- 
ter, disheartened  by  malicious  tales  of  the  dangers  of  the 
Mississippi,  had  stolen  off,  and  were  in  hiding  along  a 
neighboring  river.  The  remainder  of  the  detachment, 
by  their  leader's  orders,  were  hunting  fifty  leagues  away 
on  the  Illinois  plains,  to  obtain  supplies  of  food.  La  Salle 
brought  with  him  ten  Frenchmen  as  well  as  four  savages 
hired  for  the  voyage,  and  employed  fourteen  others  for 
the  same  service  from  among  those  at  Fort  Miami, 
promising  each  a  hundred  beaver  skins  as  his  wages. 
These  eighteen  Indians  were  all  from  New  England, 
belonging  to  the  Mohegan,  Abenaqui  and  Saco  tribes, 
and  with  them  were  ten  squaws  and  three  children.  The 
frozen  river  barred  the  usual  route  by  the  Kankakee 
portage,  and  after  waiting  till  December  21st,  in  the 
hope  of  a  timely  thaw,  Tonty  embarked  on  Lake  Michi- 
gan with  most  of  the  party  and  Membr6,  "to  go,"  as  the 
latter  says,  "towards  the  Divine  River,  called  by  the 
Indians  Checagou. ' '  Three  days'  journey  brought  them 
to  the  Chicago  portage  and  after  one  day's  canoeing 
down  the  stream  called  by  them  the  Checagou,  now  the 
Des  Plaines,  the  increasing  firmness  of  the  ice  prevented 
further  navigation.  Tonty,  ever  ready  for  an  emergency, 
established  a  winter  camp,  and  set  his  command  at  work 
to  build  sledges  for  the  transportation  of  the  canoes  and 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  125 

their  lading.  These  were  made  of  the  hardest  wood 
found  in  the  forests  along  the  river,  such  as  the  wild 
cherry,  maple  or  walnut,  the  side  pieces  smoothly  pol- 
ished, curved  in  front  and  connected  by  three  cross  bars 
on  which  the  load  was  placed.  A  man,  harnessed  to  one 
by  a  neck  collar  attached  to  the  runners,  could  readily 
draw  a  hundred  or  a  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  weight 
eight  or  ten  leagues  a  day.  La  Salle  meanwhile,  with  a 
few  assistants,  was  constructing  caches  in  the  sand  ridges 
at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph,  placing  in  deep  excava- 
tions his  surplus  commodities  in  boxes,  lined  and  covered 
with  sheets  of  birch  bark,  supported  on  stakes  and  pro- 
tected with  heavy  timbers,  above  which  the  sand  was 
heaped  high,  and  every  trace  of  human  presence  care- 
fully effaced.  These  completed,  he  left  Fort  Miami  on 
December  28th,  by  the  lake  route,  following  his  vanguard 
to  the  Chicago  portage,  where  winter  storms  arrested  his 
progress.  New  Year's  Day,  1682,  he  passed  upon  the  site 
of  the  future  metropolis  snow-bound,  looking  out  upon  si 
dreary  waste  of  which  his  little  party  were  the  sole  inhab- 
itants. This  probably  was  the  first  time  La  Salle  trav- 
ersed the  site  of  Chicago,  although  he  may  have  touched 
the  lake  shore  at  some  point  now  within  the  city  limits 
on  his  journey  along  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Michigan 
in  1679.  Delayed  here  by  the  drifts  for  several  days,  he 
was  able  at  length  to  proceed  on  foot,  and  reached  the 
place  where  Tonty  awaited  him  on  the  6th  of  January.*" 

The  sledges  completed,  these  were  loaded  with  the 
canoes,  provisions,  ammunition,  and  one  of  the  French- 
men disabled  by  a  wound,  and  the  march  commenced 
along  the  icy  surface  of  the  river.  On  the  loth  of  the 
month  they  reached  the  junction  of  the  Kankakee,  where 
the  trail  of  Tonty' s  hunters  was  discovered.     Search  was 


126     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

made,  and  one  of  the  parties  was  found.    Two  others  had 
gone  to  the  river  St.  Joseph,  to  obtain  news  of  La  Salle. 
They  returned  on  the  nth,  and  as  the  remainder  of  this 
detachment  were  expected  soon,  the  main  body  moved 
forward  by  short  journeys,  leaving  provisions  for   the 
others,  and  directions  to  follow.     In  a  day  or  two  more 
the  whole  company  were  gathered  together,  twenty-three 
Frenchmen  and  thirty-one  savages  in  all.     Tonty  appro- 
priately takes  this  occasion  to  record  in  his  narrative  the 
roster  of  the  expedition  which  had  undertaken  so  great 
an  enterprise.     We  read  there  next  after  La  Salle,  Mem- 
bra and  Tonty,  the  names  so  honorably  associated  with 
the  early  history  of  Illinois,  of  Tonty 's  gallant  comrade, 
the  young  Sieur  Frangois  de  Boisrondet,  and  of  the  ever 
faithful  Jacques  Bourdon,  Sieur  d  'Autray,      There,  too, 
are  three  of  La  Salle's  companions  on  that  trying  winter 
journey  from  Crevecoeur  to  Frontenac,  Hunault,  La  Vio- 
lette,  and  Collin  Crevel ;  two  of  the  party  sent  from  Niag- 
ara to  Tonty's  relief,  Pierre  You  and  Jean  du  Lignon,  the 
repentant  deserter  Gabriel  Barbier  or  Minime;  and  others 
of  whom  we  first  hear  by  this  list.     Of  these  was  the 
young  Nicolas  de  La  Salle,  a  son  of  a  French  Commis- 
sary of  Marine,  not  a  relative  of  the  discoverer,  whose 
narrative  of  this  expedition  we  have,  and  who  was,  later, 
to  be  associated  with  the  early  history  of  Louisiana,  and 
Pierre  Prudhomme,  the  armorer  for  whom  a  fort  on  the 
Mississippi  was  to  be  named..   The  Indian  contingent  was 
commanded  by  Clance,  a  Mohegan  chief,  who  had  been 
prominent  at  the  conclave  of  the  New  England  savages 
at  the  Kankakee  portage.     In  single  file  along  the  frozen 
Illinois,  which  Membr^  also"  calls  the  Seignelay,  dragging 
their  weighty  burdens,  they  plodded  stoutly  on,  passing, 
with  no  desire  to  halt,  the  ruins  of  the  great  Illinois  vil- 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  127 

lage,  silent  and  tenantless.  Arriving  January  25th  at 
Fort  Crevecoeur,  which  was  in  fair  condition,  they  found 
the  river  open,  and  halted  that  their  Indian  allies  might 
make  for  themselves  canoes  of  elm  bark.  Then  exchang- 
ing the  collar  for  the  paddle,  they  embarked  again,  and 
on  the  6th  of  February  saw  before  them  the  mighty 
stream  of  the  Mississippi,  to  which  La  Salle  gave  the 
name  of  the  great  minister  Colbert." 

Here  a  week's  delay  was  caused  by  the  ice,  which  made 
the  navigation  of  the  great  river  perilous,  and  also 
impeded  the  Indians,  who  had  fallen  behind  in  the  jour- 
ney from  Crevecoeur.  When  they  joined  the  others,  they 
were  obliged  to  build  more  canoes,  and  so  failed  to  obtain 
sufficient  supplies  of  game.  The  Frenchmen  resorted  to 
fishing,  and  caught  a  huge  creature,  doubtless  of  the 
catfish  species,  of  such  extraordinary  size,  says  Tonty, 
that  it  furnished  meat  sufficient  for  soup  for  twenty -two 
men.  On  the  13th  they  floated  out  upon  the  stream  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  turning  towards  the  sea,  encoun- 
tered at  a  distance  of  six  leagues  or  more,  the  furious 
current  of  the  great  river  coming  from  the  west,  called 
by  them  the  Emissourita,  or  Missouri,  and  also  the  River 
of  the  Osages.  They  landed  near  its  mouth,  and  repeated 
around  their  campfires  tales  told  by  the  savages  of  its 
great  size  and  length,  its  sources  in  the  far-off  mountains, 
and  the  numerous  peoples  on  its  banks,  some  of  whom 
waged  war  and  hunted  the  buffalo  on  horseback.  The 
next  day,  gliding  past  the  high  tablejand  on  which  the 
city  of  St.  Louis  was  to  be  founded  almost  a  century 
later,  they  came  to  the  great  village  of  the  Tamaroas  on 
the  east  bank,  probably  near  the  site  of  the  present  town 
of  Cahokia.  It  contained  one  hundred  and  twenty  cabins, 
all  abandoned  like  those  of  the  chief  settlement  of  the 


128     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

Illinois.  Here  La  Salle  left  marks  to  indicate  that  he 
was  traveling  towards  the  sea  on  a  peaceful  errand,  and 
suspended  from  posts  gifts  of  merchandise  for  the  inhab- 
itants if  they  returned.  Such  was  the  terror  inspired  by 
the  Iroquois  that  the  country  along  the  river  for  a  hun- 
dred leagues  below  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  was  entirely 
deserted.  Two  leagues  beyond  the  Tamaroas  the  expe- 
dition went  into  camp  on  the  right  bank,  perhaps  where 
Jefferson  Barracks  now  stand,  and  remained  for  two  days 
hunting  buffalo,  deer,  turkeys  and  swans  in  a  beautiful 
region  of  swelling  hills  and  rolling  plains,  where  there 
was  no  ice  or  snow.  The  third  day  they  made  ten 
leagues,  and  passed  the  night  on  a  level  opening  in  the 
forest,  which  was  subject  to  overflow  at  flood  time  in  the 
river.  The  following  evening  they  reared  their  bark 
shelters  on  the  Illinois  side^  a  fine  country  but  with  many 
rocks,  says  Nicolas  de  La  Salle,  speaking  perhaps  of  the 
locality  now  known  as  Prairie  Du  Rocher.  Here  they 
halted  three  days  to  hunt,  and  resuming  their  course, 
found  themselves  at  nightfall  between  bold  shores  bor- 
dered with  a  low  growth  of  canes,  apparently  at  the  pres- 
ent Grand  Tower.  Setting  forth  in  the  early  morning 
and  making  good  progress,  they  saw  towards  sunset  on 
their  left  the  embouchure  of  the  river,  which  the  differ- 
ent chroniclers  of  this  expedition  call  by  the  various 
names  of  the  River  of  St.  Louis,  the  Ouabache,  the  Chi- 
cagoua,  and  the  Oyo.  Nicolas  de  La  Salle,  referring  per- 
haps to  his  leader's  early  dreams  of  discovery,  mentions 
that  this  river  coming  from  the  country  of  the  Iroquois 
had  led  some  to  believe  that  by  following  it  one  could  find 
a  passage  to  China  — "La  Chine."  It  was  the  Ohio,  the 
Beautiful  River.  Such  was  the  meaning  of  Oyo  in  the 
Iroquois  tongue,  and  it  thus  soon  became  known  among 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  129 

the  French  as  La  Belle  Riviere.  A  league  beyond  the 
first  view  of  its  waters  they  pitched  their  camp  on  the 
western  bank,  directly  opposite  to  its  mouth. *^ 

Thenceforth  their  course  took  them  beyond  the  con- 
fines of  Illinois,  as  they  went  on  to  accomplish  the  great 
discovery  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  for  which  La 
Salle  had  labored  with  such  titanic  energy.  Many  were 
their  adventures  on  the  way,  and  numerous  strange  tribes 
were  met,  who  were  usually  well  disposed.  Tonty  volun- 
teered to  bear  the  calumet  to  one  band,  whose  intentions 
were  uncertain.  At  his  approach  they  joined  their  hands 
in  token  of  friendship,  but  he  says;  "I,  who  had  but  one 
hand,  could  only  tell  my  men  do  the  same  in  response. ' ' " 
As  they  neared  the  sea,  some  of  the  party  climbing  trees 
to  reconnoitre,  reported  what  seemed  a  great  bay  in  the 
distance.  La  Salle  went  to  explore,  returning  with  the 
news  that  he  had  gone  to  a  point  where  the  water  had  a 
briny  taste  and  found  some  crabs  like  those  of  the  ocean. 
April  6th  they  came  to  the  place  where  the  Mississippi 
divided  into  three  branches.  On  the  7th,  La  Salle  took 
the  right,  Tonty,  with  whom  was  Membre,  the  center 
and  D'Autray  the  left.  Two  leagues  below,  they  issued 
upon  the  open  gulf  and  explored  its  shores  either  way 
until  they  were  assured  that  the  great  project  had  been 
accomplished.  On  April  9,  1682,  they  ascended  to  a  spot 
on  the  right  bank  where  the  ground  was  firm  and  a  few 
trees  grew.  Of  the  squared  trunk  of  one  of  these  they 
made  a  rude  column,  to  which  were  attached  the  arms  of 
France,  wrought  from  the  copper  of  one  of  their  kettles, 
with  the  inscription,  ' '  Louis  le  Grand,  Roy  de  France  et 
de  Navarre,  rfegne  le  ge  Avril,  1682."  Amid  salvos  of 
musketry  and  cries  of;  "Vive  le  Roi,"  La  Salle  erected 
the  column,  and  took  formal  possession  in  the  name  of 


130     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

the  King,  of  the  Mississippi,  its  tributaries  and  the  lands 
watered  by  them.  A  cross  was  also  affixed  to  one  of  the 
trees,  while  the  Te  Deum  was  chanted,  and  all  united  in 
the  hymn  of  the  Vexilla  Regis.  Beneath  the  cross  was 
buried  a  leaden  plate  engraved  with  the  arms  of  France 
and  the  King's  title  and  the  date  in  Latin  on  one  side,  and 
on  the  other  a  Latin  inscription  reciting  that  La  Salle, 
Tonty,  Membr^  and  twenty  Frenchmen  were  the  first  to 
navigate  this  river  from  the  land  of  the  Illinois  to  its 
mouth.  An  official  statement,  or  Proces- Verbal,  of  the 
expedition  was  prepared  by  Jacques  de  la  M^terie,  notary 
of  Fort  Frontenac,  who  had  been  duly  authorized  to 
exercise  the  functions  of  his  office  during  this  voyage, 
and  signed  by  him  and  eleven  others.  By  this  act 
France  obtained  her  title  to  the  valleys  of  the  Ohio  and 
the  Mississippi,  to  which  our  nation  has  succeeded.  The 
name  of  the  State  of  Louisiana  to-day  preserves  the  des- 
ignation which  La  Salle  gave  to  the  whole  of  the  grand 
realm  which  he  brought  under  the  sway  of  the  French 
crown.** 

The  whole  party  commenced  the  ascent  of  the  river  on 
the  loth  of  April,  but  La  Salle  pushed  forward  with  three 
light  canoes,  manned  chiefly  by  his  Mohegans,  as  far  as 
Fort  Prudhomme.  This  was  a  stockade  on  a  high  stone 
bluff  near  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  built  by  his  men  on 
their  way  down  the  river,  and  named  for  Pierre  Prud- 
homme, the  armorer.  Here  La  Salle  fell  dangerously  ill, 
and  needed  the  services  of  the  surgeon,  who  was  with  the 
rear  guard.  His  attendant,  Cauchois,  went  some  dis- 
tance down  the  river  to  meet  them  without  success,  and 
fearing  to  leave  his  master  any  longer,  tied  a  letter  to  a 
tree  on  a  projecting  point  of  sand.  Tonty,  following 
slowly,  was  startled  at  the  sight  of  this,  and  made  haste, 


TH  E  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  131 

as  requested  by  it,  to  hurry  forward  Jean  Michel  to  bleed 
La  Salle.  Arriving  himself  at  the  fort  the  last  of  May, 
he  was  profoundly  distressed  to  find  his  commander 
seemingly  at  the  point  of  death.  The  state  of  his  affairs, 
the  danger  of  robbery  of  his  caches  at  Fort  Miami,  and 
the  importance  of  a  speedy  report  of  his  success,  made  it 
necessary  for  the  faithful  lieutenant  to  go  forward  at 
once.  With  a  heavy  heart  he  proceeded  up  the  river  on 
June  4th,  accompanied  by  Antoine  Brossard,  Jacques 
Cauchois,  Jean  Mass^,  and  a  Saco  Indian.  Below  the 
Ohio  he  met  four  forlorn  Iroquois,  the  survivors  of  a 
band  of  a  hundred  recently  defeated  by  the  Sioux,  and 
gave  them  a  part  of  his  scanty  supplies.  Four  days  later 
he  steered  his  canoe  towards  a  smoke  on  the  Illinois  shore 
of  the  river.  Thirty  Tamaroa  warriors  issued  from  the 
woods  and  advanced  with  bended  bows  and  fierce  war 
cries,  taking  the  travelers  for  Iroquois.  Tonty  presented 
his  calumet,  and  an  Indian  whom  he  had  known  among 
the  Illinois,  recognizing  him,  cried  out:  "It  is  my  com- 
rade! They  are  French."  He  landed  and  found  a  war 
party  composed  of  Missouris,  Tamaroas  and  Kaskaskias. 
Those  of  the  two  former  tribes  would  have  put  Tonty  and 
his  companions  to  death,  but  the  latter  prevented  and 
made  them  safe  for  the  night.  The  Tamaroas  then 
escorted  them  to  their  village,  which  they  had  reoccu- 
pied,  where  Tonty  was  welcomed  by  the  chiefs,  who 
entertained  him  for  two  days.  On  the  20th,  after  dis- 
tributing presents,  he  departed,  and  on  the  27th  passed 
the  great  Illinois  village,  still  unoccupied.  Low  water 
obliged  him  to  abandon  his  canoe,  and  the  party  trav- 
ersed on  foot  the  forty  leagues'  distance  to  Lake  Mich- 
igan. On  its  shore  they  fortunately  met  an  Outagami 
Indian,  who  sold  them  a  canoe  with  which  they  reached 


132     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

Fort  Miami,  and  found  everything  undisturbed  and  the 
place  deserted.  Paddling  onward,  Tonty  landed  at 
Mackinac  July  2 2d,  bringing  Membr^'s  letter  to  his 
Superior,  written  June  3d  at  Fort  Prudhomme,  which  is 
still  preserved.  La  Salle  had  been  too  ill  to  write  when 
the  advance  party  left  him,  but  Tonty  forwarded  dis- 
patches in  his  behalf  to  Count  Frontenac,  containing  the 
first  news  of  the  great  discovery  which  slowly  found  its 
way  to  Quebec  and  thence  to  France.*" 

La  Salle's  iron  constitution  triumphed  over  disease  and 
blood-letting  after  a  forty  days'  contest.  With  Membr6 
to  aid  him,  though  still  very  feeble,  he  left  Fort  Prud- 
homme at  the  close  of  July,  with  the  remainder  of  his 
men.  Proceeding  by  short  stages  and  with  frequent 
rests  to  the  Tamaroa  village  he  was  made  there  a  guest  of 
honor,  the  calumet  dance  was  performed  before  him,  and 
he  was  presented  with  a  set  of  mats  and  two  Pawnee  cap- 
tives, a  woman  and  a  boy.  He  gave  two  muskets  in 
return.  This  Pawnee  youth,  who  soon  acquired  a  knowl- 
edge of  French,  told  La  Salle  a  strange  story  which  led 
him  to  believe  it  possible  that  the  pilot  and  crew  did  in 
fact  escape  from  the  wreck  of  Le  Griffon.  Two  years 
before,  the  young  Indian  said  he  had  seen  two  French- 
men prisoners  among  one  of  the  Upper  Mississippi 
tribes.  They  had  been  taken  with  four  others  while 
ascending  the  river  in  two  canoes  loaded  with  merchan- 
dise, and  their  comrades  had  been  slain  and  devoured. 
The  one,  whose  description  tallied  with  that  of  the  pilot, 
had  saved  the  lives  of  himself  and  companion  by  his 
ready  exhibition  of  an  explosive,  seemingly  one  of  the 
hand  grenades  of  which  there  had  been  a  supply  on  the 
vessel ;  and  assuring  the  savages  that  he  could  destroy 
with  these  the  villages  of  their  enemies.     One  of  the 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  133 

crew,  named  La  Rivifere,  from  Tours,  had  formerly  been 
in  the  service  of  Duluth,  who  was  at  the  time  of  the  cap- 
ture among  the  Sioux,  and  La  Salle  thought  it  probable 
that  this  man  was  seeking  to  join  his  former  employer, 
with  his  fellows  and  the  more  valuable  merchandise  from 
Le  Griffon.  The  story  seems  never  to  have  been  fully 
confirmed." 

From  the  Tamaroas  La  Salle's  party  ascended  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Illinois,  and  turned  into  that  stream.  Their 
hunters  along  its  banks  supplied  them  with  an  abundance 
of  swans,  ducks,  turkeys,  deer  and  buffalo,  and  after  fifteen 
days  foraging  they  halted  at  Fort  Crfevecceur,  which  they 
found  nearly  destroyed.  The  unfinished  vessel,  sad  me- 
morial of  the  failure  of  the  first  attempt  to  explore  the 
Great  River,  had  been  fired,  and  a  few  blackened  timbers 
alone  remained.  La  Salle  left  eight  Frenchmen  here,  and 
passing  the  Illinois  village,  where  no  one  was  seen,  kept 
on  his  way  to  Lake  Michigan,  and  so  to  Fort  Miami 
again.  Here  he  learned  that  the  diligent  Tonty  had  left 
D'Autray  and  Cauchois  among  the  Miamis,  and  sent 
others  to  the  Illinois,  and  that  two  hundred  lodges  of 
other  Indians  were  going  to  re-enforce  the  latter  nation. 
La  Salle  and  Membr^  hastened  on  to  Mackinac,  where 
they  landed  at  the  end  of  September.  The  former,  hear- 
ing rumors  of  another  Iroquois  invasion  which  'boded  ill 
to  his  newly-formed  plans,  resolved  to  remain  and  oppose 
it,  and  indeed  was  hardly  equal  to  his  intended  journey 
to  France.  He  wrote  Count  Frontenac  that,  having 
heard  that  the  Iroquois  were  ready  to  march,  he  proposed 
to  return  to  the  Miami  country  with  his  twenty-five 
Frenchmen,  and  strongly  fortify  a  post  there,  resolved  to 
defend  it  against  the  warriors  of  the  Five  Nations.  To 
secure  the  proper  presentation  of  tlje  official  account  of 


134     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

his  great  discovery  to  the  King,  he  appointed  Membr6  to 
go  to  Paris  in  his  stead  for  that  purpose.  The  clerical 
deputy  made  all  speed  down  the  lakes  and  rivers  to 
Quebec,  where  he  reported  himself  two  days  before  the 
departure  on  November  17th,  of  the  last  vessels  of  the 
season,  and  sailed  in  that  which  bore  away  La  Salle's 
steadfast  friend.  Count  Frontenac,  just  retiring  from  the 
governorship  of  Canada.  So  Membr6  left  New  France 
never  to  return,  and  sorrowfully  wrote  of  his  labors  in 
the  Illinois  land;  "I  cannot  say  that  my  little  efforts  pro- 
duced certain  fruits.  With  regard  to  these  nations  per- 
haps some  one  by  a  secret  effort  of  grace  has  profited ; 
this  God  only  knows.  All  we  have  done  has  been  to 
see  the  state  of  these  nations,  and  to  open  th^  way  to  the 
Gospel,  and  to  missionaries;  having  baptized  only  two 
infants  whom  I  saw  at  the  point  of  death  and  who  in  fact 
(died  in  our  presence."  " 

The  threatened  inroad  of  the  Iroquois  promised  disas- 
ter to  the  savages  on  the  River  St.  Joseph,  who  had  so 
recently  formed  an  alliance  with  the  French  and  the 
Illinois.  Tonty  was  dispatched  in  haste  thither  to  assem- 
ble the  men  who  had  remained  in  that  region  at  the 
Kankakee  portage,  and  to  erect  a  fort  there  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Shawanoes,  whom  La  Salle  had  invited  to 
move  their  village,  and  of  the  Miamis." 

But  on  his  arrival  Tonty  found  the  Shawanoes  all 
absent  in  hunting  parties,  and  the  Miamis  beginning  to 
take  flight  because  rumors  had  reached  them  that  the 
Iroquois  were  coming  to  destroy  them.  As  those  French- 
men whom  he  had  expected  to  meet  were  scattered,  and 
he  had  too  few  in  his  company  to  undertake  the  appointed 
task  with  them  alone,  he  proceeded  to  Fort  Crbvecoeur, 
intending  to  winter  there  and  to  gather  his  forces  in  the 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  135 

spring.*'  La  Salle  meanwhile  assumed  that  the  fort  at 
the  Kankakee  portage  was  well  under  way  and  on  Octo- 
ber 5th  wrote  to  the  Governor  at  Quebec,  that  he  had 
caused  such  a  fort  to  be  constructed,  which  was  on  the 
point  of  being  attacked  by  the  Iroquois,  and  asked  to  have 
one  hundred  muskets,  five  hundred  pounds  of  powder 
and  one  thousand  pounds  of  balls  with  some  grenades 
and  falconets  sent  to  it  at  the  risk  of  La  Salle.  And  to 
one  of  his  friends  he  wrote  in  the  same  month  that  he 
had  built  one  of  the  forts  which  his  letters  patent  author- 
ized him  to  construct,  at  the  portage  of  the  River  of  the 
Illinois,  and  stationed  thirty  men  there  with  the  Sieur  de 
Tonty.  But  by  degrees  contradictions  of  the  rumors 
concerning  the  Iroquois,  and  information  of  Tonty 's 
repairing  to  Crevecoeur  reached  La  Salle  at  Mackinac, 
with  such  assurances  of  the  amenability  of  the  savages  as 
induced  him  to  return  to  his  original  plan  of  a  permanent 
establishment  upon  the  River  Illinois.  Fort  Crevecoeur 
was  too  distant  from  the  general  abiding  place  of  the 
natives,  and  it  probably  could  not  be  fortified  to  the 
extent  deemed  necessary  since  the  Iroquois  campaign. 
The  strong  fort  which  Tonty  was  ordered  to  build  on 
the  high  rock  near  the  old  Indian  village,  if  commenced, 
was  never  completed.  After  La  Salle's  first  visit  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Illinois,  he  was  inclined  when  he  returned 
from  the  sea  to  make  his  stronghold  on  the  rock  on  the 
south  shore  of  the  Illinois  River  just  where  it  flows  into 
the  Mississippi,  having  then  perhaps  some  idea  of  bring- 
ing the  far  western  and  northern  tribes  under  his  sway. 
But  this  plan  was  never  carried  out,^ 

A  new  location  was  advisable,^  and  one  which  should 
be  most  convenient  for  the  tribes  of  the  Illinois.  The 
former  inhabitants  of  the  great  village  had   definitely 


136     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

abandoned  that  site  of  bitter  memories,  and  it  was  there- 
fore unwise  to  resume  the  project  of  a  fortress  on  the 
rock  adjoining  it.  As  La  Salle  revolved  these  matters  in 
his  mind,  his  thoughts  recurred  to  a  still  more  command- 
ing position  six  leagues  farther  down  the  river  on  its 
southern  shore.  Here  was  an  eyrie  which  he  resolved  to 
make  his  own,  and  he  forthwith  chose  for  it  the  name  of 
Fort  St.  Louis,  in  honor  of  the  canonized  king,  Louis 
IX,  of  France.  Some  of  his  party  he  sent  to  Montreal 
for  provisions  and  ammunition,  and  set  out  with  the 
rest  from  Mackinac  for  the  Illinois.  The  2d  of  Decem- 
ber, 1682,  he  was  on  the  River  St.  Joseph  and  there 
executed  to  one  of  his  men,  Michel  Dizy,  a  concession  of 
two  hundred  arpents  of  land  in  the  district  dependent 
upon  his  new  fort,  similar  to  those  which  he  had  already 
made  to  others  in  his  service.  These  grants  were  sub- 
jected to  certain  seignorial  charges,  which  were  reduced  for 
those  making  early  application."  He  seemed  to  feel  that 
his  wanderings  were  about  to  end,  and  he  desired  to  offer 
inducements  to  his  followers  to  make  permanent  settle- 
ment in  his  new  seignory.  Its  hills  and  valleys,  forests 
and  open  plains  lay  before  him  as  he  descended  the 
Illinois,  and  in  imagination  he  saw  them  occupied  by 
people  of  two  races  united  in  commercial  enterprise 
under  his  protecting  sway.  Disembarking  at  Cr^vecoeur 
on  the  30th  of  December,  he  directed  Tonty's  com- 
mand to  break  camp  and  to  follow  him  to  the  chosen 
place  in  the  heart  of  the  land  of  the  Illinois.  ^^ 

This  land,  which  Jolliet  and  Marquette  had  found  so 
beautiful  was  equally  so  to  La  Salle  and  to  his  associates 
who  had  now  summered  and  wintered  there.  The  glow- 
ing descriptions  given  by  all  whose  accounts  we  have 
make  it  a  paradise,  the  attractions  of  which  they  are 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  137 

never  weary  of  depicting.  Tonty,  whose  brief  chronicles 
waste  no  words,  cannot  resist  the  spell.  In  his  Memoir 
of  1684*^  he  says  it  is  as  charming  a  country  as  one  can 
anywhere  see,  for  the  most  part  a  great  plain  adorned 
with  clusters  of  trees  and  rich  in  strange  fruits.  There 
the  first  buffalo  are  seen,  and  its  prairies  abound  with 
every  kind  of  animal,  deer  in  flocks  like  sheep,  turkeys 
and  game.  And  again  in  his  Memoir  of  1693  he  says  the 
country  of  the  Illinois  contains  some  of  the  finest  lands 
ever  seen.^*  So  Father  Membrd  writes  that  the  River 
Seignelay,  as  he  calls  the  Illinois,  is  very  beautiful, 
forming  lakes  as  far  as  the  Mississippi,  edged  with  hills 
covered  with  beautiful  trees  whence  one  sees  vast  prai- 
ries on  which  herds  of  wild  cattle  pasture  in  profusion. 
The  soil  is  good  and  capable  of  producing  all  that  can  be 
desired  for  subsistence.  The  whole  country  along  this 
river  is  charming  in  its  aspect.  ^^  The  Relation  Officielle 
repeats  these  praises  and  adds  that  the  air  is  very  tem- 
perate and  very  healthful,  the  country  is  watered  by 
numberless  lakes,  rivers  and  streams  for  the  most  part 
navigable,  one  is  hardly  ever  incommoded  there  by 
mosquitoes  or  other  harmful  creatures,  and  there  are 
mines  of  coal,  slate  and  iron.^  La  Salle's  own  letters  are 
full  of  similar  statements.  In  one  of  them  he  speaks  of 
the  country  nine  leagues  below  the  confluence  of  the 
Kankakee  and  the  Des  Plaines  as  the  most  beautiful  in 
the  world,  and  adds  that  the  savages  call  it  Massane 
because  of  the  great  quantity  of  hemp  that  grows  there, 
and  that  there  could  be  no  other  region  so  intersected 
with  rivers  and  diversified  with  prairies,  islands,  groves, 
hills,  valleys  and  plains  of  the  most  fertile  soil.^''  The 
novelty  of  such  a  land  to  natives  of  Europe  or  of  the  bleak 
forests  of  Canada  evoked  this  enthusiasm  and  deepened 


138     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

these  impressions.  And  it  was  with  the  feeling  that  they 
had  come  to  the  garden  of  the  earth  that  La  Salle's 
retainers  began  the  preparations  for  a  feudal  establish- 
ment within  its  borders  after  the  pattern  of  those  of  the 
old  world. 

IV.  Settlement 

The  lines  of  La  Salle's  new  citadel  were  traced  just  as 
the  year  1683  began,  and  its  construction  went  steadily 
forward  despite  the  winter  weather.  The  tall  rock  on 
which  it  stood  rose  to  a  height  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  feet,  so  sheer  from  the  river's  edge  that 
water  could  be  drawn  at  its  summit  from  the  stream 
directly  below.  The  circuit  of  its  level  top  measured  six 
hundred  feet,  and  on  three  sides  it  was  so  steep  as  to  be 
totally  inaccessible.  On  the  fourth  the  approach  was 
toilsome  enough,  and  here  it  was  fortified  by  a  formida- 
ble palisade  of  trunks  of  white  oak  trees  ten  inches  in 
diameter  and  twenty-two  feet  high.  This  was  flanked 
by  three  redoubts,  built  of  squared  beams,  so  located 
that  each  could  defend  the  others.  A  like  palisade  but 
only  fifteen  feet  in  height  encompassed  the  remainder  of 
the  rock,  and  along  its  line  four  similar  redoubts  frowned 
upon  the  region  below.  A  parapet  of  large  trees  laid 
lengthwise  and  covered  with  earth  ran  along  the  inner 
side  of  the  whole  fortification,  and  the  palisades  were 
crowned  with  heavy  timbers  set  with  wooden  spikes, 
iron  pointed.  Within  the  enclosure  were  rude  dwellings, 
a  store  house  for  supplies  and  peltries,  and  a  chapel.  All 
was  completed  in  the  month  of  March,  1683,  when  the 
royal  ensign  of  France  was  unfurled  above  the  walls  of 
Fort  St.  Louis  of  the  Illinois.^    It  overlooked  the  country 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  139 

far  and  wide,  for  its  foundation  rock  towered  above  the 
neighboring  bluffs  in  splendid  isolation.  From  the  near- 
est of  these  to  the  eastward  it  was  separated  by  a  ravine 
two  hundred  feet  across,  and  on  the  other  side  was  a 
wide  valley  through  which  a  little  stream  made  its  way 
to  the  Illinois.  The  farther  shore  of  the  river  was  a 
broad  prairie,  and  midway  lay  a  beautiful  island,  both  of 
which  had  formerly  been  cultivated  by  the  natives.  The 
island  was  within  musket  shot,  and  could  be  planted  and 
its  harvest  gathered  under  protection  of  the  fort.  It 
seemed  that  at  last  La  Salle  had  found  an  appropriate 
center  for  his  gfreat  design  of  a  commercial  colony  in  the 
heart  of  the  West,  communicating  on  the  one  hand  with 
the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  and  on  the  other  with  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico. 

The  assurance  given  to  the  friendly  tribes  had  been 
fulfilled,  and  of  this  they  were  speedily  advised.  No 
sooner  was  the  fortress  completed  than  the  indefatigable 
Tonty  set  forth  to  summon  the  dusky  retainers  to  the 
castle  of  their  chief.  East,  south  and  west,  he  journeyed 
over  the  prairies  for  well  nigh  three  hundred  miles,  pass- 
ing from  one  group  of  lodges  to  another,  and  distributing 
presents  in  the  name  of  La  Salle.  He  told  his  eager  hear- 
ers of  the  mighty  stronghold  which  their  white  father  had 
built  to  defend  them  against  the  ruthless  Iroquois,  and 
VLTged  them  to  encamp  about  its  walls.  Tlie  machinations 
of  La  Salle's  enemies  had  estranged  some  of  the  natives, 
but  by  persistent  effort  Tonty  won  them  back,  and  one 
and  all  agreed  to  come  to  the  appointed  place.*  They 
kept  their  word,  and  soon  from  his  watch  tower  the 
French  leader  saw  band  after  band  of  Illinois,  Miamis 
and  Shawanoes  approach  and  establish  themselves  in  the 
near  neighborhood   until    three    hundred    cabins    were 


I40     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

reared  round  about  Fort  St.  Louis.  Other  Indians  fol- 
lowed and  some  with  strange  names  whose  tribes  we 
cannot  now  identify,  but  who  probably  came  from  the 
Mississippi  region  in  which  La  Salle's  recent  voyage  to 
the  sea  had  spread  his  name  abroad.*  Ere  long  he  was 
able  to  report  to  the  home  government  that  he  had 
assembled  at  the  fort  four  thousand  savage  warriors, 
which  number  would  represent  a  native  population  of 
fully  twenty  thousand  souls.* 

To  make  the  settlement  all  that  he  wished  it  remained 
only  to  attract  there  a  sufficient  number  of  Frenchmen. 
He  had  given  liberal  grants  of  land  to  those  of  his  com- 
rades who  were  willing  to  make  their  homes  in  the 
wilderness,  and  anxiously  awaited  the  return  of  the  men 
whom  he  had  sent  to  Montreal  in  the  fall,  and  the  coming 
of  new  colonists  with  them.  But  these  did  not  appear 
and  April  came  without  reliable  news  from  the  lower  St. 
Lawrence,  although  disquieting  rumors  repeated  from 
one  tribe  to  another,  or  carried  by  wandering  coureurs 
de  bois,  were  in  the  air.  A  disastrous  change  for  La 
Salle  had  taken  place  in  the  government  at  Quebec. 
Count  Frontenac  had  been  recalled  and  Le  Febvre  de  La 
Barre  had  succeeded  him  on  October  9,  1682.  The 
new  Governor  sided  with  the  enemies  of  La  Salle,  and 
almost  at  once  showed  hostility  to  him.  Writing  to  the 
minister  Colbert  on  the  12th  of  November,  La  Barre 
mentioned  the  receipt  of  the  letter  which  Tonty  had 
written  for  La  Salle  when  the  latter  lay  ill  at  Fort  Prud- 
homme,  to  announce  the  finding  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi;  and  made  light  of  the  discovery  and  ex- 
pressed doubts  of  its  utility.  This  opinion  he  repeated 
in  another  letter  to  Colbert,  dated  two  days  later,  in 
which  he  blamed  La  Salle  for  the  threatened  Iroquois 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  141 

war,  and  charged  him  with  falsehood.  The  men  sent 
from  Mackinac  in  the  fall  were  detained  at  Montreal,  and 
the  Governor  gave  ready  credence  to  all  charges  against 
them  or  their  employer.  He  determined  to  bring  La 
Salle  to  Quebec  and  to  take  possession  of  his  establish- 
ment on  the  Illinois  River.  To  arrange  this  and  other 
matters  he  commissioned  an  officer  to  proceed  to  Macki- 
nac and  points  beyond.' 

This  person,  whose  name  was  to  be  connected  with 
the  Illinois  country  and  with  the  beginning  of  Chicago, 
was  Olivier  Morel  Sieur  de  La  Durantaye.  Bom  at 
Gasure  in  the  ancient  bishopric  of  Nantes,  February  1 7, 
1640,  of  an  old  and  noble  family,  he  grew  to  manhood  in 
his  native  France,  and  at  the  age  of  22  commenced  his 
long  career  of  faithful  military  service  to  his  king.  He 
attained  the  rank  of  lieutenant  in  the  fine  infantry 
regiment  which  bore  the  name  of  its  Colonel,  Sieur  de 
Chambelle,  and  in  1665  was  appointed  one  of  its  cap- 
tains. The  same  year  he  exchanged  into  the  famous 
regiment  of  Carignan-Salieres  that  he  might  proceed 
with  it  to  Canada  where  it  was  sent  to  bring  the  Iroquois 
to  terms.  After  peace  was  concluded  he  returned  with 
his  company  to  France,  but  the  charms  of  the  New 
World  led  him  thither  again.  In  1672  the  Intendant  Jean 
Talon  granted  him  a  concession  near  the  River  Richelieu 
of  seventy  arpents  of  land,  which  he  was  engaged  in 
cultivating  when  the  course  of  events  brought  him  into 
the  service  of  the  government  again.'  His  commission 
from  La  Barre,  dated  March  i,  1683,  recites  that  he  was 
selected  because  a  man  of  experience,  worth  and 
approved  wisdom  was  needed  to  carry  out  the  instruc- 
tions which  he  would  receive.  Fourteen  days  later  the 
Governor,  fearing  lest  the  work  he  had  planned  was  too 


142     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

much  for  one  person  to  accomplish,  commissioned  as 
Durantaye's  lieutenant  the  Chevalier  Louis  Henri  de 
Baugy,  a  young  officer,  son  of  a  royal  counselor,  who 
had  arrived  from  France  the  preceding  autumn.^ 

La  Salle  meanwhile  not  realizing  the  storm  which  was 
brewing  at  Quebec  but  uneasy  because  of  the  non-arrival 
of  his  men,  determined  to  appeal  directly  to  La  Barre. 
On  the  2nd  of  April,  1683,  he  wrote  from  Fort  St. 
Louis  a  pathetic  letter,  setting  forth  his  reverses  and  his 
resolve,  notwithstanding,  to  meet  his  obligations.  He 
recounted  his  great  discovery;  the  building  of  the  fort, 
and  the  assembling  of  the  Indians ;  set  forth  his  future 
plans,  and  besought  the  Governor  not  to  delay  parties 
going  from  the  post  to  the  settlements.  Another  detach- 
ment was  ready  to  set  out  to  bring  back  supplies  of 
ammunition,  but  feared  that  they  might  be  detained  on 
the  charge  of  illegal  trading.  La  Salle  assured  La  Barre 
of  the  falsity  of  any  such  allegation,  informed  him  that 
these  supplies  were  absolutely  necessary  for  the  defence 
of  the  fort  which  was  on  the  eve  of  being  attacked,  and 
begged  him  to  permit  all  of  the  people  belonging  there 
to  return.*  In  the  hope  that  he  had  thus  made  certain  of 
fair  treatment.  La  Salle  permitted  Andr^  Eno  and  Jean 
Filastreau  to  take  the  route  for  Montreal  with  a  load  of 
peltries  belonging  to  Tonty  and  Jacques  Cauchois,  which 
they  had  generously  permitted  to  be  exchanged  for 
powder  and  ball  for  the  common  defence.  In  May  came 
the  rumor  that  the  Iroquois  were  on  the  warpath,  and 
the  Miamis  who  had  returned  to  their  villages  to  gather 
their  com  were  so  alarmed  that  they  resolved  to  flee  to 
far  distant  parts.  Such  a  course  would  have  disinte- 
grated La  Salle's  colony,  and  he  went  at  once  to  the  St. 
Joseph  region,  assembled  the  Miami  chiefs  and  persuaded 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  143 

the  tribe  to  retire  in  a  body  to  Fort  St.  Louis,  Then 
he  descended  the  stream  to  its  mouth  with  the  intention 
of  going  to  Mackinac  and  thence  to  Montreal,  to  see  the 
Governor.  He  was  delayed  at  Fort  Miami  four  days  by 
bad  weather.  The  fourth  evening  some  Kiskakon  sav- 
ages who  had  been  trading  with  the  Miamis  brought 
the  tidings  that  the  latter  had  come  upon  the  recent  trail 
of  an  army  of  Iroquois  one  of  whose  parties  had  slain  a 
Miami  hunter,  while  chasing  a  deer  near  their  camp. 
La  Salle  had  promised  the  Illinois  at  Fort  St.  Louis  to 
retrace  his  steps  at  the  first  sure  intelligence  of  the 
approach  of  the  Iroquois,  and  therefore  changed  his 
plans  forthwith  and  returned  with  the  Miamis.  These 
were  divided  into  the  Ouiatenons  from  about  the  Kanka- 
kee portage,  the  Pepikoia  who  dwelt  midway  between 
this  point  and  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph,  and  the 
Tchatchaking  who  were  near  Lake  Michigan,  and  fol- 
lowed its  coast  in  their  retreat.  The  others  came  to  join 
them  as  soon  as  they  heard  that  the  Iroquois  were  near. 
Each  sub-tribe  had  intended  to  take  its  own  route,  lest 
their  crossing  the  country  together,  should  too  greatly 
tax  its  resources.  But  they  now  preferred,  as  the  chron- 
icler aptly  says,  to  risk  a  scarcity  of  provisions  by  their 
union,  rather  than  to  become  bread  for  the  Iroquois  by 
marching  separately.' 

The  motley  host  of  from  four  thousand  to  forty-five 
hundred  souls  pursued  its  course  around  the  southern 
end  of  Lake  Michigan  and  along  its  western  shore.  The 
country  was  so  rich  in  game  as  to  supply  their  wants 
without  difficulty,  although  as  many  more  natives  were 
dependent  upon  the  same  region  for  their  sustenance. 
There  was  a  busy  scene  at  the  Chicago  portage  when  the 
Miamis  arrived  and  by  degrees  passed  on  down  the  Des 


144     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

Plaines.  La  Salle  himself  halted  here  at  the  little  stock- 
ade with  a  log  house  within  its  enclosure  which  two  of 
his  men  had  erected  at  this  point  during  the  winter  of 
1682  and  1683.^"  This  was  the  first  known  structure 
of  anything  like  a  permanent  character  upon  the  site  of 
Chicago,  and  the  first  habitation  of  white  men  there  since 
Marquette's  encampment  in  the  winter  of  1674.  It  was 
an  outlying  post  of  Fort  St.  Louis,  established  for  the 
procuring  of  beaver  and  other  furs,  and  its  occupants  at 
this  time  were  Jacques  Cauchois,  the  faithful  attendant  of 
La  Salle  in  his  illness  on  the  Mississippi,  and  an  Indian 
whose  name  has  not  been  preserved."  Disappointed  in 
his  hope  of  a  personal  interview  with  La  Barre,  the 
earliest  opportunity  to  communicate  with  him  was  seized 
by  La  Salle  who  now  sent  his  two  Chicago  colonists  to 
Montreal  with  all  the  peltries  they  could  carry.  ^^ 

By  the  hand  of  Cauchois  he  forwarded  a  second  letter 
to  the  Governor  dated  "  Du  portage  de  Checagou  4  Juin, 
1683,"  which  is  probably  the  first  document  wholly  writ- 
ten at  that  place,  and  comes  next  in  point  of  time  to  that 
portion  of  Marquette's  journal  actually  indited  there. 
In  this  epistle  La  Salle  plainly  tells  La  Barre  that  the 
detaining  of  all  the  men  who  had  gone  to  Montreal  had 
caused  a  lack  of  everything  needful,  and  that  these  two 
now  came  to  procure  means  for  the  actual  defence  of  the 
fort  against  formidable  enemies.  He  asks  him  to  have 
the  goodness  to  permit  them  to  return  with  their  charge, 
and  with  as  many  others  as  Cauchois  might  persuade  to 
accompany  them.  After  recounting  what  had  taken 
place  since  his  last  communication  and  the  straits  the 
colony  was  in,  he  reproachfully  says;  "But,  monsieur,  it 
is  in  vain  that  we  risk  our  lives  here  and  that  I  exhaust 
myself  to  fulfill  the  wishes  of   His  Majesty,  if,   at  the 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  145 

settlements  below,  all  the  measures  are  thwarted  which 
I  take  to  procure  success,  and  if  on  far  fetched  pretexts 
those  are  kept  back  who  go  to  obtain  the  supplies  with- 
out which  we  cannot  defend  ourselves.  It  is  useless  for 
the  King  to  permit  me  to  build  forts  and  to  do  what  is 
necessary  for  the  accomplishment  of  my  design,  if  I  am 
prevented  from  bringing  arms,  powder  and  lead  here. ' ' 
Again,  changing  his  tone,  he  shows  that  he  has  only 
twenty  Frenchmen  at  the  fort  with  but  a  hundred  pounds 
of  powder  and  bullets  in  proportion,  and  that  unless  he 
has  more  he  cannot  withstand  an  attack.  And  he  closes 
with  an  earnest  appeal  to  La  Barre  to  save  the  post  as 
the  key  to  a  country  capable  of  becoming  a  powerful 
colony  which  will  always  honor  him  as  its  preserver  in 
its  infancy."  In  a  memorandum  added  to  the  letter  he 
says  he  has  learned  from  Tonty  that  an  armed  band  of 
the  Illinois  went  on  the  warpath  against  the  Iroquois  and 
their  allies  ten  days  before,  and  just  as  he  was  closing, 
another  dispatch  from  Tonty  arrived,  brought  by  two  of 
his  men  to  the  Chicago  portage,  to  tell  La  Salle  that, 
unless  he  came  back  at  once,  the  Illinois  would  forsake 
them  to  go  to  some  region  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
Iroquois.  The  war  party  previously  spoken  of  had 
returned,  having  met  forty  of  the  enemy  and  captured 
one  whom  they  offered  to  Tonty  to  put  to  death.  He 
declined,  telling  them  it  was  not  the  custom  of  the 
French  to  kill  their  prisoners  of  war ;  but  he  feared  to 
ask  clemency  for  the  Iroquois  lest  it  should  seem  that  the 
whites  were  in  sympathy  with  the  Five  Nations,  as  La 
Salle's  enemies  were  continually  alleging.  The  luckless 
captive  therefore  "was  burned  in  the  ordinary  manner," 
says  La  Salle,  "he  having  been  presented  to  the  Shawa- 
noes,  who  put  him  to  the  fire. "  "    To  neither  of  these 


146     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

letters  does  the  stolid  old  soldier  who  sat  in  the  chair  of 
state  in  the  Governor's  chateau  at  Quebec  seem  to  have 
made  any  reply.  Five  months  after  the  last  was  written, 
he  sent  copies  of  both  to  the  Minister  Colbert,  and 
asserted  that  La  Salle's  head  was  turned,  that  his  discov- 
ery was  false,  and  that  he  was  setting  up  an  imaginary 
kingdom.  So  far  was  La  Barre  from  realizing  his  own 
shameful  conduct  that  he  gloated  over  the  failure  of  La 
Salle's  men  to  return  to  him,  and  rejoiced  that  he  was 
deprived  of  the  means  necessary  to  maintain  his  post, 
which  he  contemptuously  spoke  of  as  more  than  five  hun- 
dred leagues  distant  from  Quebec.*^ 

La  Salle's  previous  visit  to  the  Chicago  portage  was 
made  in  mid- winter,"  when  one  could  not  easily  deter- 
mine the  character  of  the  region.  On  this  occasion  he 
came  in  the  early  summer,"  and  doubtless  then  prepared 
or  obtained  the  facts  for  his  description  of  the  place, 
probably  written  later  in  1683.  He  says :  "The  portage  de 
Checagou  is  an  isthmus  of  land  at  forty-one  degrees  and 
fifty  minutes  north  latitude  to  the  west  of  the  lake  of  the 
Illinois,  which  is  reached  by  a  channel  formed  by  the 
meeting  of  many  rivulets  or  rainfalls  of  the  prairie.  It 
is  navigable  about  two  leagues  to  the  border  of  the  prai- 
rie a  quarter  of  a  league  westward.  There  is  there  a  lit- 
tle lake  divided  into  two  by  a  beaver  dam  about  a  league 
and  a  half  in  length,  whence  there  flows  a  little  stream 
which,  after  meandering  half  a  league  among  the  rushes, 
falls  into  the  river  Checagou,  and  by  it  into  the  river  Illi- 
nois. This  lake,  when  filled  by  the  great  rains  of  sum- 
mer or  the  floods  of  spring,  flows  into  the  channel  leading 
to  the  lake  of  the  Illinois,  the  surface  of  which  is  seven 
feet  lower  than  the  prairie  in  which  the  former  lake  lies. 
The  river  Checagou  does  the  same  in  the  spring  when  its 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  147 

channel  is  full ;  it  discharges  by  this  little  lake  a  part  of 
its  waters  into  the  lake  of  the  Illinois.  And  at  this  time, 
which  would  be  the  summer,  Jolliet  says  that  a  little 
canal  a  quarter  of  a  league  long  from  this  lake  to  the 
basin  which  leads  to  the  lake  of  the  Illinois,  would  enable 
barks  to  enter  the  Checagou  and  descend  to  the  sea.  That 
perhaps  might  happen  in  the  spring,  but  not  in  summer, 
because  there  is  then  no  water  in  the  river  as  far  as  Fort 
St.  Louis,  where  the  navigation  of  the  Illinois  commences 
in  summer  time  and  thence  is  good  as  far  as  the  sea.  It 
is  true,  there  is  besides  a  difficulty  that  this  ditch  would 
not  be  able  to  remedy,  which  is  that  the  lake  of  the  Illi- 
nois always  forms  a  bank  of  sand  at  the  entrance  of  the 
channel  leading  from  it.  And  I  greatly  doubt,  whatever 
any  one  says,  whether  this  could  be  swept  away  or  scat- 
tered by  the  force  of  the  current  of  the  Checagou,  if  made 
to  flow  there,  since  much  stronger  ones  in  the  same  lake 
have  not  been  able  to  do  it.  Furthermore,  the  utility  of 
it  would  be  small,  since  I  doubt  whether,  when  all  was 
completed,  a  vessel  would  be  able  to  ascend  against  the 
great  flood  which  the  currents  cause  in  the  Checagou  in 
the  spring,  much  more  violent  than  those  of  the  Rhone. 
Then  it  would  be  for  only  a  little  time,  and  at  most  for 
only  fifteen  to  twenty  days  a  year,  after  which  there 
would  be  no  more  water.  What  confirms  me  besides  in 
the  opinion  that  the  Checagou  would  not  be  able  to  keep 
the  mouth  of  the  channel  clear,  is  that  the  lake  is  full  of 
ice  which  blocks  the  navigable  openings  at  the  time  in 
question,  and  when  the  ice  is  melted,  there  is  not  water 
enough  in  the  Checagou  to  prevent  the  sand  from  stop- 
ping up  the  channel.  Indeed  I  would  not  have  mentioned 
this  matter,  if  Jolliet  had  not  proposed  it,  without  having 
sufficiently  guarded  against  the  difficulties. "  "    The  chan- 


148     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

nel  first  spoken  of  is  the  present  Chicago  River,  the  little 
lake  is  Mud  Lake,  since  drained  away,  and  the  then  Che- 
cagou  is  now  the  Des  Plaines,  whose  spring  floods  rushing 
through  the  Chicago  River  to  Lake  Michigan  are  but  a 
thing  of  yesterday,  while  the  sand  bar  at  the  junction  of 
river  and  lake  is  not  yet  forgotten.  In  every  particular 
the  description  coincides  so  exactly  with  the  existing  or 
former  characteristics  of  the  place  that  it  alone  deter- 
mines the  location  of  the  Chicago  portage  within  the  lim- 
its of  the  present  city  of  the  name,  beyond  the  shadow  of  a 
doubt.  It  speaks  also  of  the  power  of  the  man  who,  amid 
all  of  the  cares  then  pressing  upon  him,  could  make  such 
a  careful  topographical  examination  of  this  important 
point.  We  may  imagine  him  as  he  completes  it,  after 
his  men  have  embarked  for  Montreal  and  his  Miami  allies 
have  journeyed  onward  down  the  Des  Plaines,  once  more 
alone  upon  the  site  of  Chicago,  whence  he  takes  his  soli- 
tary way  to  Fort  St.  Louis. 

Recurring  now  to  events  at  Quebec,  La  Barre  had 
matured  his  instructions  to  Durantaye  and  delivered 
them  to  him  under  date  of  April  21,  1683.  These 
describe  him  as  the  bearer  of  the  Governor's  commission 
to  the  Ottawas,  the  Miamis  and  other  distant  people,  and 
direct  him  to  establish  good  relations  with  them,  to 
repress  the  coureurs  de  bois,  and  to  bear  to  Sieur  de  La 
Salle  the  orders  of  La  Barre,  in  whose  behalf  also  he 
was  to  seek  out  the  Illinois,  if  this  could  easily  be  done. 
At  Mackinac  he  was  to  inquire  whether  it  was  true  that 
La  Salle  had  set  himself  up  as  a  potentate  among  the 
Miamis  and  towards  the  head  of  Green  Bay,  had  plun- 
dered some  French  canoes  bearing  the  permits  of  Fron- 
tenac,  and  had  issued  permits  in  his  own  name.  If 
Durantaye  found  proof  of  these  charges,  and  La  Salle 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  149 

was  within  reach,  he  was  to  go  in  person  with  his  lieu- 
tenant and  four  or  five  canoes  and  read  and  place  in  the 
hands  of  La  Salle  the  Governor's  order  to  immediately 
report  to  him,  and  to  make  La  Salle  understand  that  if  he 
did  not  obey  he  would  be  arrested.  If  the  proofs  were 
not  conclusive,  or  La  Salle  was  too  far  away,  Durantaye 
was  to  send  him  and  his  companions  the  letters  which 
the  Governor  had  written  them  by  De  Baug-y,  who  at  the 
same  time  could  bear  La  Barre's  dispatches  to  the  Illi- 
nois. De  Baugfy  was  also  instructed  to  take  occasion  to 
withdraw  young  Nicolas  La  Salle  from  the  company  of 
the  elder  La  Salle,  and  to  send  him  to  the  Governor. 
Just  as  La  Barre  was  completing  this  document  he  had  a 
fresh  access  of  rage  against  La  Salle  upon  learning  that 
he  had  brought  the  Shawanoes,  who  were  declared  ene- 
mies of  the  Iroquois,  into  a  union  with  the  Miamis  and 
the  Illinois.  And  he  added  a  peremptory  command  to 
Durantaye  to  go  or  send  De  Baugy  to  the  mission  at 
Green  Bay  to  entreat  the  Reverend  Father  Nouvel  to 
accompany  one  of  them  to  the  Miamis,  to  tell  them  that 
the  Governor  had  made  peace  for  them  with  the  Iroquois, 
but  could  not  maintain  it  unless  they  separated  from  the 
Shawanoes,  and  to  do  the  same  with  the  Illinois  if  they 
could  be  reached."  The  false  charges  against  La  Salle 
and  the  misconception  of  his  plans  revealed  in  these 
instructions  so  worked  upon  the  aged  Governor's  mind 
that  later  he  prepared  dispatches  to  La  Salle  ordering  him 
to  leave  the  West  at  once  and  come  to  Quebec  to  render 
an  account  of  his  pretended  discovery.^"  La  Barre  had  by 
this  time  so  firmly  persuaded  himself  of  the  falsity  of  the 
account  of  the  Mississippi  voyage  that  he  took  the  posi- 
tion that  La  Salle's  patent  from  the  King,  of  May  12, 
1678,  which  provided  that  the  discovery  must  be  accom- 


I50     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

plished  within  five  years,  was  really  null  and  void. 
Insisting,  therefore,  that  all  of  La  Salle's  privileges  were 
forfeited,  and  that  he  had  no  right  to  be  in  the  Illinois 
country  at  all,  the  governor  issued  another  order  to  Dur- 
antaye  and  De  Baugy,  telling  them  to  exercise  the 
authority  he  had  given  them,  without  any  preliminary, 
and  to  compel  La  Salle  to  depart  from  the  West  and  to 
report  to  him.  And  he  enjoined  all  of  the  comrades 
of  La  Salle  to  separate  from  him  and  to  give  him  no 
further  recognition.  This  cruel  decree  was  dated  May 
9,  1683,  three  days  before  the  patent  could  expire,  even 
if  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  had  not  been  discovered.*^ 
Durantaye  and  De  Baugy  set  out  from  Quebec  April 
23d,  and  came  to  Montreal,  where  the  Governor,  who  fol- 
lowed them  thither,  issued  this  latest  order.  They  left 
this  place  May  12th,  and  spent  thirteen  days  in  traversing 
the  nine  leagues  of  rapids  to  Lachine.  Hence  they 
departed  May  25th,  arrived  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  June  26th, 
and  at  Mackinac  the  2d  of  July.*"  We  have  a  very 
interesting  letter  from  De  Baugy  to  his  brother,  de- 
scribing the  journey,  written  "k  Messilimakina,  ce  7 
Juillet,  1683,"  in  which  he  says  that  the  journey  is 
very  fatiguing,  there  being  twenty-eight  portages  and 
about  sixty  places  where  the  canoes  have  to  be  drawn 
through  the  rapids  and  lifted  over  the  rocks.  De  Baugy 
served  his  apprenticeship  to  "these  little  machines,"  as 
he  calls  the  canoes,  and  learned  to  handle  the  paddle,  but 
suffered  grievously  from  the  flies  at  the  carrying  places 
in  the  woods.  He  was  looking  forward  hopefully  to  the 
journey  which  lay  before  him  of  more  than  two  hundred 
leagues,  to  his  winter  quarters  among  the  Illinois  Indians, 
a  very  numerous  nation  in  a  beautiful  country  where 
there  are  great  prairies.     With  pleasurable  anticipation 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  151 

he  remarks  that  one  sees  there  quantities  of  huge  wild 
oxen  and  turkeys,  and  that  there  is  good  cheer  in  that 
land.  But  it  was  necessary  that  he  should  reach  it  scon, 
because  he  had  orders  to  make  M.  de  La  Salle,  who  was 
there,  come  down  to  render  an  account  of  his  actions. 
To  this  letter  a  postscript  dated  July  2 2d  was  added,  say- 
ing that  the  writer  believed  that  during  the  following 
winter  he  would  be  engaged  in  warfare  with  the  sav- 
ages, who  might  take  his  life,  though  this  did  not  trouble 
him  so  much.  But  what  he  dreaded  most,  as  he  was 
just  departing  in  his  "little  machines,"  was  the  flies, 
which  tormented  a  person  so  cruelly  that  one  did  not 
know  what  to  do.** 

Durantaye  accompanied  De  Baugy  as  far  as  the  mis- 
sion at  the  foot  of  Green  Bay,  whence  in  August  the  lat- 
ter set  out  for  the  Illinois  country,**  doubtless  taking  the 
route  of  the  Chicago  portage.  La  Salle  meanwhile  was 
at  Fort  St.  Louis,  encouraging  his  colonists  to  make  clear- 
ings and  plant  crops,  and  preparing  concessions  of  land 
to  his  employes  and  creditors  and  to  religious  orders. 
The  names  of  twenty  or  more  of  these  early  settlers  or 
grantees  of  land  in  what  is  now  Illinois  are  preserved  in 
the  records  of  the  Superior  Council  of  Quebec,  where  they 
may  be  seen  to-day.  Among  them  are  Riverin,  Pierre 
Chenet  Frangois  Pachot,  Chanjon,  Frangois  Hazeur, 
Louis  Le  Vasseur,  Mathieu  Martin,  Frangois  Charron,  les 
Sieurs  d'Artigny  and  La  Chesnaye,  Jacques  de  Faye, 
Pierre  Le  Vasseur,  Michel  Guyon,  Poisset,  Andr6  de 
Chaulne,  Marie  Joseph  le  Neuf,  Michel  de  Gr^z  Philipes 
Esnault,  Jean  Petit,  Ren^  Fezeret,  les  Sieurs  Laporte, 
Louvigny  et  de  St.  Castin,  Frangois  de  La  Forest,  Henri 
de  Tonty,  and  the  Jesuit  Fathers.**  But  the  lack  of  sup- 
plies, the  failure  of  his  parties  to  return,  and  the  hostility 


152     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

of  the  Governor,  which  he  could  no  longer  doubt,  ren- 
dered his  position  intolerable.  He  resolved  to  proceed 
to  France  and  appeal  in  person  to  the  K.ng.^  Everything 
was  put  in  the  best  possible  condition  at  the  fort,  his  peo- 
ple there  were  promised  early  supplies,  and  Tonty  was 
placed  in  command.  ^^  In  the  latter  part  of  the  month  of 
August,  1683,^*  La  Salle,  with  some  of  his  Frenchmen 
and  two  Shawanoes,  departed  from  his  rocky  citadel  and 
ascended  the  River  Illinois.  Fourteen  leagues  from  the 
fort''*  or  about  midway  between  the  Fox  and  Kankakee 
rivers,  he  saw  another  party  approaching,  and  soon  was 
greeted  by  a  young  officer,  who  announced  himself  as  the 
bearer  of  the  orders  of  the  Governor  of  New  France.  It 
was  De  Baugy,  at  last  arrived  in  the  land  of  the  Illinois, 
who  now  delivered  to  La  Salle  La  Barre's  harsh  edict  of 
May  9,  1683,^"  and  thus  made  the  first  service  of  a  legal 
writ  within  the  territory  now  comprised  in  the  State  of 
Illinois.^'  It  more  than  confirmed  La  Salle's  gravest 
apprehensions,  and  must  have  been  a  severe  blow  to 
him.  But  he  treated  the  deputy  with  great  courtesy,  and 
gave  him  letters  recommending  Tonty  to  receive  him 
well  and  to  live  in  great  harmony  with  him.  So  La 
Barre's  agent  passed  on  to  the  fort,  where  Tonty  says  he 
did  receive  him  as  he  was  directed,  but  drily  observes 
that  it  was  not  much  trouble  for  his  chief  to  be  obliged 
to  make  the  journey,  since  he  was  on  his  way  when  the 
order  reached  him.^" 

La  Salle  continued  his  route  to  the  Chicago  portage, 
which  he  reached  by  the  ist  of  September,  and  on  that 
day  wrote  a  letter  to  the  inhabitants  of  Fort  St.  Louis 
which  brings  the  situation  very  vividly  before  us.  It  is 
dated  "at  Checagou,"  the  ist  of  September,  1683,  and 
begins  with  an  expression  of  gratitude  to  his  people  at 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS 


155 


the  rock  for  their  fidelity,  and  a  promise  to  reward  them 
therefor  as  soon  as  he  shall  have  scattered  the  little 
storm,  as  he  hopes  to  do.  He  tells  them  that  Rolland  is 
awaiting  him  at  Missilimackinac  with  a  good  cargo, '^  and 
he  is  taking  there  with  him  La  Fontaine,  La  Violette,  the 
Sieur  d'Autray,  and  the  two  Shawanoes  whom  he  will 
send  back  to  bring  them  some  of  it.  He  assures  them 
that  from  the  King,  who  is  the  greatest  and  most  just 
prince  of  the  universe,  they  have  cause  to  expect  only  the 
recompense  due  to  the  courage  they  have  shown  in  the 
discovery  and  the  making  of  the  post,  and  urges  them  to 
work,  since  the  gain  of  their  cause  and  his  own  depends 
on  their  establishment.  They  should  therefore  all  settle 
themselves  on  large  clearings,  and  if  there  remains  any- 
thing to  be  done  at  the  fort,  they  should  work  at  it  as  at 
a  thing  for  their  true  interests.  He  proposes  to  return 
by  sea  in  the  spring,  and  they  will  have  merchandise  and 
all  their  requirements,  and  even  something  to  drink  his 
health  with,  as  Rolland  has  saved  him  a  barrel  of  whisky. 
They  must  be  united  and  follow  Tonty's  counsel  and 
orders.  And  one  thing  of  great  consequence  is  to  gather 
as  many  buffalo  skins  as  possible  for  which  Boisrondet 
(his  commissary  at  the  fort)"  will  give  for  the  larger  two 
beaver  skins,  and  for  the  smaller,  one.  They  must 
always  speak  with  great  respect  of  the  Governor,  and 
obey  his  orders,  even  if  he  were  to  command  them  to 
abandon  the  fort,  and  do  nothing  that  looks  like  plotting 
and  combining.  This  letter  is  addressed  to  Antoine 
Brossard,  one  of  his  Mississippi  party,  and  all  other 
inhabitants  residing  at  Fort  St.  Louis  in  Louisiana,  and 
is  signed;  "Your  most  humble  and  most  affectionate  serv- 
ant de  La  Salle.  "^  It  is  his  farewell  to  the  region  in 
which  he  had  toiled  and  suffered,  hoped  and  sorrowed  in^ 


154     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

the  cause  of  civilization  in  the  West,  of  which  he  was  the 
pioneer.  As  he  pursued  the  long  and  weary  way  which 
led  to  the  settlements  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  beautiful 
land  of  the  Illinois  must  have  been  often  in  his  thoughts. 
He  never  failed  to  sound  its  praises  in  all  that  he  wrote 
thereafter,  and  it  hald  a  most  important  place  in  his 
future  plans  which  always  contemplated  his  return 
thither,  but  fate  was  adverse,  and  he  never  saw  it  more. 
At  Fort  St.  Louis,  De  Baugy  and  Tonty  were  exer- 
cising a  divided  authority,  the  one  representing  La  Barre 
and  the  other  La  Salle,  and  the  latter's  advice  that  they 
should  live  in  harmony  was  not  strictly  followed.  When 
Tonty  found  his  associate  doing  his  utmost  to  create  dis- 
affection among  the  colonists,  and  Durantaye,  who  made 
them  occasional  visits,  sparing  no  trouble  in  the  same 
direction,  the  sturdy  defender  of  the  rights  of  his  absent 
leader  took  them  both  to  task.  Quarrels  followed,  and 
they  passed  the  winter  in  discord.''  As  spring  approached 
the  rumors  of  an  Iroquois  invasion  postponed  from  the 
preceding  year  were  revived.  La  Barre's  animosity  to 
La  Salle  had  led  the  Five  Nations  to  believe  that  he  was 
without  the  pale  of  the  government,  and  that  they  were 
free  to  attack  his  settlement  and  wreak  upon  the  Illinois 
tribes  their  ancient  gfrudge,  which  had  been  aggravated 
by  the  death  of  one  of  their  chiefs  at  Mackinac  at  the 
hands  of  an  Illinois  warrior.'^  The  traders,  however,  who 
held  permits  from  La  Barre,  felt  perfectly  secure,  and 
did  not  hesitate  to  invade  the  territory  of  La  Salle,  whom 
all  the  Governor's  friends  felt  privileged  to  rob.**  A  party 
of  fourteen  Frenchmen  accordingly  set  out  from  Mack- 
inac as  early  as  August  lo,  1683,  with  the  express  pur- 
pose of  trading  in  the  Illinois  country,  under  the  lead  of 
Ren6  Le  Gardeur,   Sieur  de  Beauvais.     They  were  sup- 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS 


plied  with  permits  and  protections  from  the  Governor 
himself,  of  whose  orders  in  regard  to  La  Salle  they  were 
undoubtedly  well  advised.  Hunting  by  the  way,  they 
progressed  slowly,  and  by  December  4th  only  gained  the 
Kankakee  River,  where  they  were  compelled  to  winter. 
They  were  visited  by  a  small  party  of  Iroquois,  who 
departed  apparently  for  their  own  country,  professing 
most  friendly  intentions,  and  on  May  8th  the  party 
resumed  the  descent  of  the  Kankakee  on  the  way  to  Fort 
St.  Louis.  At  the  passage  of  a  rapid  they  fell  into  the 
hands  of  two  hundred  Iroquois,  who  to  their  extreme  sur- 
prise pillaged  their  merchandise  and  took  their  canoes, 
contemptuously  tearing  in  pieces  the  Governor's  permits 
and  his  letters  to  Durantaye  and  De  Baugy  which  Beau- 
vais  produced.  The  white  men  were  compelled  to  march 
along  the  river  bank  for  nine  days,  until  they  reached  the 
Des  Plaines,  where  they  were  dismissed  without  provi- 
sions or  canoes,  and  with  only  two  wretched  muskets  and 
a  little  ammunition.  They  were  saved  from  starvation 
by  a  fortunate  meeting  with  a  band  of  Mascoutens,  who 
gave  them  guides  to  Green  Bay,  and  they  ultimately 
reached  Quebec,  where  they  made  a  very  long  and  indig- 
nant protest  on  the  subject  of  their  unwarranted  misfor- 
tunes." It  is  some  satisfaction  to  know  that  La  Barre  had 
provided  the  outfit  for  this  expedition,  having  a  large 
share  in  the  venture,  and  that  the  entire  loss  fell  upon 
him.«' 

When  the  Iroquois  were  leading  these  captives  along 
the  Kankakee,  they  asked  them  whether  Tonty,  whom 
they  called  Le  Bras  Coupe,  or  Cut  Arm,  was  in  the 
fort,  and  how  many  men  he  had,  and  if  La  Salle  were 
not  there  also.  When  they  were  told  that  La  Salle  had 
been  recalled,  and  that  there  was  another  commandant  in 


156     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

his  place,  they  said  they  knew  it  well,  and  inquired  only 
to  see  whether  the  white  men  spoke  the  truth ;  and  that 
they  were  on  their  way  to  attack  the  fort."  On  March 
20th  Tonty  and  De  Baugy  heard  of  the  approach  of  the 
Iroquois,  and  sent  a  canoe  to  Durantaye  at  Mackinac  for 
aid,  and  made  every  preparation  to  give  them  a  warm 
reception."  The  next  day  they  appeared,"  and  De 
Baugy's  prediction  to  his  brother  was  realized.  He  and 
Tonty  forgot  their  differences,  and  fought  side  by  side 
during  the  six  days'  siege  that  followed.  Around  the 
good  Fort  St.  Louis  the  crafty  savages  seized  every  coign 
of  vantage,  searching  the  palisades  with  musketry  by 
day,  and  arousing  the  garrison  with  repeated  alarms  by 
night.  They  even  attempted  to  storm  the  defenses,  but 
the  trained  soldiers  within  were  more  than  a  match  for 
the  forest  chieftains,  whose  forces  were  repulsed  with 
signal  loss."  They  sullenly  withdrew,  humiliated  by  the 
check  which  they  had  received,  resolved  upon  revenge, 
and  took  with  them  some  native  prisoners,  who  all 
escaped  and  made  their  way  back  to  the  fort.*^  Hard 
upon  the  trail  of  the  retreating  Iroquois  came  war  parties 
from  the  tribes  at  the  fort,  who  slew  a  number  of  their 
enemies,  and  returned  in  triumph  with  their  scalps." 

The  story  of  the  Iroquois  capture  of  the  trading  party 
was  brought  to  the  Mission  of  St.  Frangois  Xavier  at 
Green  Bay  by  the  victims,  and  even  before  their  arrival 
dispatches  came  from  the  fort  narrating  its  successful 
defense  against  the  Iroquois.*''  Beauvais'  party  carried 
these  to  Quebec  with  a  letter  to  La  Barre  from  the  Jesuit 
Father  Nouvel,  dated  April  23,  1684,  in  which  it  is  not 
difficult  to  detect  the  sympathy  of  his  order  with  the 
opponents  of  La  Salle.**  Nouvel  tells  La  Barre  that 
Monsieur    le    Chevalier  de    Baugy,   seconded   by  some 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  157 

Frenchmen  whom  he  had  with  him  and  some  savages,  had 
valiantly  defended  the  fort.  Not  a  word  is  said  of  Ton- 
ty's  part  in  the  affair,  but  could  we  refer  to  any  Iroquois 
accounts  of  the  siege  we  may  be  sure  that  these  would 
not  ignore  Le  Bras  Coupe's  share  in  their  defeat.  The 
letter  also  says  that  Durantaye  is  just  setting  out  for  his 
twelfth  trip  towards  the  Illinois  country,  for  the  purpose 
of  aiding  Monsieur  le  Chevalier  de  Baug^.  And  we 
likewise  learn  from  this  epistle  that  Father  Allouez, 
whose  visits  to  the  land  of  the  Illinois  usually  coincided 
with  La  Salle's  departures  from  it,  would  accompany  Dur- 
antaye to  perform  the  offices  of  his  faith  among  the 
French  and  savages  on  the  route.** 

The  2 1  St  of  May  there  arrived  at  Fort  St.  Louis  Allouez 
and  Durantaye,  who  led  some  sixty  Frenchmen,  osten- 
sibly for  the  relief  of  the  post,  although  the  Iroquois  had 
retired  nearly  two  months  before.^  The  real  reason  was 
that  La  Barre  had  determined  to  remove  Tonty,  and  Dur- 
antaye brought  force  enough  to  quell  any  opposition  to 
this  arbitrary  act  among  the  colonists.  Upon  the  2  2d 
Durantaye  presented  to  Tonty  the  Governor's  commands 
that  he  should  leave  Fort  St.  Louis,  putting  De  Baugy 
in  possession  of  all  that  had  belonged  to  La  Salle,  and 
report  at  Quebec."  Tonty,  mindful  of  La  Salle's  advice, 
promptly  obeyed  the  distasteful  order,  and  surrendered 
his  charge  to  De  Baugfy,"  leaving  in  disgrace,  as  it  were, 
the  place  to  which  he  was  to  return  in  honor.  His  tried 
comrade,  Boisrondet,  and  a  few  other  faithful  ones  gath- 
ered around  him  one  May  morning  as  he  pushed  off  from 
the  landing  below  the  fort,  while  his  opponents  looked 
down  in  triumph  from  the  parapets  above. ^  Almost 
alone,  he  urged  his  solitary  canoe  against  the  stream,  and 
then    by  portage,  lake  and  river  went  steadily  onward 


158     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

until,  perhaps  two  months  later,  he  saw  the  little  town  of 
Montreal,  which  he  had  last  visited  nearly  six  years 
before.  After  a  brief  respite, he  proceeded  to  Quebec, 
where  he  found  little  favor  at  the  court  of  the  Governor." 
La  Salle  was  now  in  France.  He  had  reached  Quebec, 
accompanied  by  Nicolas  de  La  Salle,  November  13,  1683, 
and  sailing  for  Europe  soon  after,  they  had  landed  at  La 
Rochelle  January  17,  1684.''^  While  still  in  Canada,  how- 
ever, the  Governor  had  contrived  to  do  him  another 
wrong.  La  Salle's  seignory  of  Fort  Frontenac  he  had 
always  carefully  maintained,  and  in  October,  1682,  when 
prevented  from  going  there  by  the  threatened  Iroquois 
invasion  of  the  West,  he  had  sent  a  petition  to  Count 
Frontenac  from  Mackinac,  begging  him  to  increase  the 
garrison,  if  necessary,  at  La  Salle's  expense.  The  Count 
handed  the  petition  to  his  successor.  La  Barre,  who  prom- 
ised to  attend  to  it,  but,  instead  of  so  doing,  recalled  all 
the  soldiers  at  the  post,  which  would  have  been  aban- 
doned had  not  Francois  Noir,  a  merchant  of  Montreal, 
reoccupied  it  in  La  Salle's  behalf.  La  Barre  neverthe- 
less forced  Noir  to  surrender  the  property  to  two  of  the 
Governor's  associates,  Le  Chesnaye  and  Le  Vert,  who 
took  possession  of  it,  and  refused  to  permit  La  Salle's 
lieutenant.  La  Forest,  to  return  to  command  there  unless 
he  became  their  partner.  This  La  Forest  declined  to  do, 
knowing  what  injustice  they  were  committing  towards 
La  Salle  and  his  creditors,  and  returned  to  France.*®  By 
the  time  La  Salle  appeared  at  Quebec,  La  Barre  had 
become  convinced  that  in  this  case  at  least  he  had  gone 
too  far,  and  was  ready  to  promise  restitution  of  Fort 
Frontenac"  and  to  advance  to  La  Salle  the  sum  of  four 
thousand  livres  for  his  present  necessities,  taking  secur- 
ity, however,  upon  his  stock  of  beaver  skins  at  Fort  St. 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  159 

Louis.  Winter  and  spring  passed,  midsummer  came,  and 
still  nothing-  was  heard  from  La  Salle's  appeal  to  the 
King.  The  Governor  took  courage,  and  regretting  his 
improvident  loan,  determined  to  collect  it  by  summary 
process.  On  the  26th  of  July,  1684,  La  Barre,  being  then 
in  camp  at  Lachine  at  the  inception  of  his  fruitless  cam- 
paign against  the  Iroquois,  found  time  to  issue  an  order 
to  the  Chevalier  de  Baugy,  reciting  that  La  Salle  had 
obtained  the  loan  by  false  pretenses,  such  as  that  he  had 
left  at  Fort  St.  Louis  of  the  Illinois  beaver  enough  to  pay 
the  sum  lent,  which  had  been  found  to  be  untrue ;  and 
commanding  that  all  of  La  Salle's  effects  at  the  fort 
should  be  seized  and  applied  to  this  debt,  without  regard 
to  the  demands  of  any  other  creditors." 

La  Barre  evidently  believed  that  there  could  be  no 
redress  for  this  despotic  action,  but  soon  had  reason  to 
change  his  opinion  in  this  regard.  La  Salle's  new 
scheme  for  the  control  of  the  Mississippi  by  a  fort  and 
colony  near  its  mouth,  communicating  directly  with  the 
Illinois  country,  had  received  the  approval  of  the  King, 
who  listened  with  ready  sympathy  to  the  story  of  his 
wrongs.^'  The  minister  Seignelay  wrote  La  Barre  April 
10,  1684,  that  the  King  wished  him,  if  the  accounts 
received  of  his  acts  at  Fort  Frontenac  were  true,  to  attend 
to  the  reparation  of  the  wrong  done  La  Salle  and  to 
restore  all  the  property  belonging  to  him  to  Sieur  de  La 
Forest,  who  was  returning  to  Canada  by  His  Majesty's 
order.***  The  King  himself  wrote  the  Governor  to  the  same 
effect  four  days  later,  and  on  the  same  day  issued  a  new 
commission  to  La  Salle  as  Commandant  of  the  whole 
region  from  Fort  St.  Louis  on  the  River  of  the  Illinois  unto 
New  Biscay  (the  northern  province  of  Mexico)."  And 
again,  on  July  31,  1684,  the  King  addressed  the  Governor, 


i6o     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

reiterating  his  former  commands,  and  warning  him  to  do 
nothing  adverse  to  the  interests  of  La  Salle,  whom  he 
had  taken  under  his  particular  protection/^  The  trem- 
bling La  Barre  could  only  marvel  at  the  good  fortune  of 
the  man  whom  he  had  so  deeply  wronged,  and  await  the 
coming  of  his  representative,  to  whom  he  must  make  full 
restitution.  La  Forest  sailed  from  La  Rochelle  in  the 
latter  half  of  July,  1684.*^  When  he  landed  at  Quebec 
two  months  later  he  was  warmly  greeted  by  Tonty.  To 
him  he  brought  the  well  deserved  commission  of  a  cap- 
tain of  foot  in  the  French  army,  which  La  Salle  had 
obtained  for  him,  and  the  appointment  of  Governor  of 
Fort  St.  Louis,"  La  Forest  also  brought  a  positive  order 
from  the  King,  dated  April  15,  1684,  for  the  return  to 
La  Salle's  officers  of  Forts  St.  Louis  and  Frontenac,  and 
departed  in  the  autumn  to  assume  command  of  the  lat- 
ter."^ He  had  taken  measures  with  Tonty  to  procure  an 
outfit  costing  twenty  thousand  livres  for  the  replenishing 
of  Fort  St.  Louis,  so  long  deprived  of  necessary  supplies. 
As  soon  as  this  was  ready  Tonty  embarked  with  it  for 
the  Illinois  country,  expecting  to  be  there  the  same 
season,  but  the  ice  forming  early  in  the  St.  Lawrence 
barred  his  path,  and  he  was  obliged  to  halt  at  Montreal, 
where,  after  a  visit  to  Quebec,  he  passed  the  winter. 

In  the  springftime  La  Forest  descended  the  river  to 
Montreal,  arranged  La  Salle's  affairs  there  in  conjunc- 
tion with  Tonty,  and  returned  to  Fort  Frontenac.  Tonty 
accompanied  him  as  far  as  that  post,  and  rejoiced  that  it 
was  no  longer  in  the  possession  of  those  who  had  used  its 
advantages  to  the  prejudice  of  La  Salle.  Thence  the 
new  Governor  of  Fort  St.  Louis  pushed  forward  to  his 
own  command."  He  bore  an  order  from  La  Barre  to  De 
Baugy,  issued  at  Quebec  September  29,  1684,  directing 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  i6i 

the  latter  by  the  command  of  the  King  to  restore  the  fort 
to  Tonty  as  La  Salle's  representative,  with  all  of  La 
Salle's  property,  and  to  return  with  his  men  to  Mackinac," 
Late  in  June  the  little  flotilla,  as  it  descended  the  River 
Illinois,  was  sighted  from  the  lookout  of  Fort  St.  Louis; 
and  soon  the  trusty  soldier  resumed  the  position  of  which 
he  had  been  so  unjustly  deprived  the  year  before.  He 
may  well  have  worn  an  air  of  quiet  triumph  as  he  saluted 
De  Baugy  within  the  enclosure  of  the  fort,  while  won- 
dering savages  and  expectant  white  men  gathered  around 
him  as  he  presented  the  order  which  it  had  wrung  La 
Barre's  soul  to  sign.  The  original  Tonty  retained  in  his 
own  hands,  but  gave  De  Baugy  a  copy.  He  also  gave 
him  a  formal  receipt,  in  which  Tonty,  describing  himself 
as  first  seigneur  of  the  Isle  of  Tonty,  captain  of  a  com- 
pany detached  from  the  marine,  sub-delegate  of  Monsieur 
de  Meulle,  Intendant  of  New  France,  to  the  country  of  the 
Ottawas  and  other  nations,  and  Governor  of  Fort  St. 
Louis,  certified  that  Chevalier  de  Baugy  had  restored  the 
fort  to  him  by  order  of  Monsieur  de  La  Barre,  Governor- 
General  of  Canada,  which  he  had  received  from  the  King. 
He  also  certified  that  he  had  found  the  fort  in  the  same 
condition  in  which  he  had  left  it  the  2 2d  of  May  the  pre- 
ceding year,**  when  obliged  to  go  down  to  Quebec  by  the 
order  of  the  said  Monsieur  de  La  Barre.  There  were  at 
the  fort  some  military  supplies  which  the  Governor  had 
sent  thither  by  one  Sieur  Vital,  while  De  Baugy  was  in 
command,  although  such  aid  had  been  steadily  refused 
in  La  Salle's  time.  La  Barre  did  not  choose  that  these 
should  benefit  Tonty,  and  so  directed  De  Baugy  to 
remove  them  with  his  own  possessions,  after  he  had  col- 
lected the  four  thousand  livres  loaned  La  Salle.  These 
were  the  last  orders  which  the  Governor  had  the  oppor- 


i62     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

tunity  to  issue  in  regard  to  Fort  St.  Louis,  and  pre- 
sumably were  complied  with.  The  papers  delivered  by 
Tonty  to  De  Baugy  were  dated  June  26,  1685,  and  the 
latter  with  his  men  doubtless  set  out  on  that  day  for 
Mackinac  where  he  was  instructed  to  report  for  further 
orders.*'  Tonty  found  that  under  De  Baugy' s  adminis- 
traiion  differences  had  arisen  between  the  Illinois  and 
the  Miami  tribes.^**  The  latter  suddenly  attacked  the 
former,  and  the  quelling  of  the  outbreak  taxed  Tonty 's 
resources  to  the  utmost.  It  cost  him  a  thousand  crowns 
worth  of  presents  and  infinite  toil  and  persuasion  to  heal 
the  breach  between  these  nations,  whose  separation 
meant  the  destruction  of  both  by  the  Iroquois."  When 
this  was  accomplished  and  autumn  had  come,  startling 
rumors  concerning  La  Salle  began  to  fill  the  air.  The 
story  reached  Fort  St.  Louis  that  its  founder  had  landed 
on  the  coast  of  Florida  in  April,  1685,  that  one  of  his 
vessels  had  been  wrecked,  and  that  he  was  fighting  with  the 
savages  and  was  in  need  of  provisions.  ^^  Tonty  sent  some 
of  his  Indian  allies  to  the  Mississippi  to  seek  for  further 
news,  and  determined  to  go  in  person  to  Mackinac  to 
obtain  the  latest  reliable  advices  of  La  Salle.  He  desired 
also  to  counteract  the  malice  of  La  Barre  who  had  actu- 
ally issued  an  order  to  Durantaye  to  confiscate  supplies 
going  to  Fort  St.  Louis.  Arriving  at  Mackinac  Tonty 
rejoiced  to  hear  that  La  Barre  was  no  longer  in  power.  ^* 
His  shameful  peace  with  the  Iroquois  concluded  in  Sep- 
tember, 1684,  in  which  he  had  abandoned  the  Illinois 
tribes  to  the  fury  of  the  Five  Nations,  had  so  incensed 
the  King  that  he  had  recalled  the  recreant  Governor.  His 
successor  the  Marquis  de  Denonville,  had  taken  his  seat 
August  13,  1685,  and  one  of  his  first  acts  was  to  send  a 
letter  to  Tonty  telling  him  that  he  wished  to  see  him  to 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  163 

concert  measures  for  a  war  with  the  Iroquois,  and  that 
La  Salle  had  gone  by  sea  to  search  for  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi.^*  This  letter  was  entrusted  to  the  trader 
Rolland  who  had  touched  at  Mackinac  and  passed  on 
westward  before  the  arrival  of  Tonty,  But  he  learned  of 
it  there  and  also  heard  some  confirmation  of  the  dis- 
quieting accounts  concerning  La  Salle. ''^  The  faithful 
lieutenant  therefore  resolved  to  go  with  a  party  of  his 
Canadians  in  search  of  his  chief,  to  whom  he  felt  he  owed 
his  first  duty,  and,  having  found  him  and  relieved  his 
wants,  to  retrace  his  steps  and  report  to  Denonville.  The 
toilsome  canoe  journey  of  more  than  three  thousand 
miles  commencing  in  late  autumn  on  Lake  Michigan's 
storm- tossed  waters,  had  no  terrors  for  this  brave  and 
loyal  soul  whom  nothing  could  turn  from  the  discharge 
of  his  duty.  On  the  day  of  St.  Andrew  the  Apostle, 
November  30th,  in  the  year  1685,  his  little  craft  sped 
forth  from  the  shore  at  Mackinac,  and  began  to  skirt  the 
coast.  Soon  floating  ice  was  encountered,  and  later  the 
frozen  surface  held  fast  the  canoe.  Its  intrepid  occupant 
and  his  few  companions  were  obliged  to  abandon  it,  and 
make  their  way  to  the  shore  which  they  traversed  on  foot 
for  nearly  three  hundred  miles.  They  suffered  greatly 
for  want  of  provisions,  as  the  severe  weather  had  driven 
away  the  game;  but  they  plodded  stoutly  on  for  full 
twenty  weary  days  and  came  at  last  to  the  fort  of  Chi- 
cago," This  was  a  new  structure,  apparently  built  during 
the  summer  of  1685."  When  Fort  St.  Louis  was  restored 
to  the  representative  of  La  Salle,  the  Jesuits,  ever  at 
odds  with  him,  ceased  their  attempts  to  gain  a  foothold 
there.  They  determined  to  have  a  post  of  their  own  in 
the  Illinois  country  and  as  La  Salle's  latest  royal  com- 
mission made  him  commandant  of  the  region  from  Fort 


i64     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

St.  Louis  to  New  Biscay,  it  was  apparently  assumed  that 
his  jurisdiction  no  longer  extended  to  Lake  Michigan. '''' 
The  present  Chicago  River  was  one  of  the  natural  routes 
to  the  interior,  and  a  location  upon  it  was  accordingly 
selected  as  the  headquarters  of  this  powerful  organization 
in  the  land  of  the  Illinois.  A  fort  was  erected  there,  but 
it  seems  to  have  occupied  a  different  position  from  that 
of  La  Salle's  stockade  of  1683.^'  The  latter  is  spoken  of 
as  at  the  Chicago  portage,  but  the  former  as  the  fort  of 
Chicago.***  Franquelin's  map  of  1684  shows  an  Indian 
village  of  eighty  warriors,  representing  a  population  of 
perhaps  four  hundred  souls,  situated  just  west  of  the 
junction  of  the  two  branches  of  the  River  Chicago.** 
These  are  said  to  have  been  Miamis  persuaded  by  AUouez 
to  leave  the  neighborhood  of  Fort  St.  Louis  in  1683.*^ 
The  Jesuits  usually  established  themselves  near  the 
Indian  habitations,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  their 
fort  was  established  at  this  junction.  This  structure  or 
a  successor  upon  the  same  site  was  doubtless  that 
referred  to  more  than  a  hundred  years  later  in  Wayne's 
treaty  with  the  North  Western  Indians,  which  identifies 
the  Chicago  River  as  the  place  where  a  fort  formerly 
stood.*'  Other  savages  were  induced  to  remove  from  Fort 
St.  Louis  to  the  new  settlement,  and  the  favor  of  La 
Barre  made  it  a  royal  post.  Durantaye  was  placed  in 
command,  and  this  was  the  beginning  of  civilized  gov- 
ernment where  the  western  metropolis  now  stands.  The 
name  of  Olivier  Morel,  Sieur  de  La  Durantaye,  should 
be  remembered  in  this  connection  as  that  of  a  brave  and 
able  officer  who  was  the  first  commandant  at  Chicago. 

With  him  Tonty  made  a  brief  stay  and  proceeded 
thence  to  his  own  Fort  St.  Louis  where  he  arrived  the 
middle  of  January,  1686.     He  set  forth  again  by  a  differ- 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  165 

ent  route  to  seek  for  the  trader  RoUand,  whom  he  met, 
and  received  from  him  the  letter  from  Denonville  whose 
favor  made  an  agreeable  change  in  affairs  at  the  fort. 
The  colonists  felt  themselves  now  to  be  under  the  pro- 
tection of  a  friendly  Governor,  and  readily  volunteered 
for  the  expedition  down  the  Mississippi.  The  Indian 
scouts  returned  in  February  with  no  further  news,  and 
Tonty  felt  that  he  must  again  and  forthwith  go  to  the 
sea,**  La  Forest,  leaving  Dorvilliers,  one  of  Denonville 's 
staff  in  charge  at  Frontenac,  came  to  Fort  St.  Louis  to 
command  the  garrison  of  thirty-one  white  men  during 
Tonty *s  absence.  On  February  i6th,  twenty-five  French- 
men with  Tonty  at  their  head  descended  from  the  rocky 
citadel  to  the  frozen  river,  and  manned  the  drag  ropes 
of  the  sledges  laden  with  their  equipage.  In  this  hardy 
band  were  some  who  had  accompanied  La  Salle  from  the 
Illinois  country  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  one  of  whom  was 
the  surgeon  Jean  Michel ;  and  we  note  also  the  name  of 
Rene  Cuillerier,  prominent  in  the  annals  of  Lachine 
and  Montreal,  and  an  ancestor  of  the  Beaubiens,  so  well 
known  in  the  early  days  of  Chicago.  Four  Shawnee 
Indians  were  hired  to  go  with  the  party  who  tracked  the 
ice-clad  stream  to  a  point  forty  leagues  below  where  open 
water  appeared.  Forty  leagues  beyond  they  found  the 
Illinois  in  their  winter  quarters  and  distributed  presents 
and  invitations  from  Denonville  to  march  in  the  spring, 
to  unite  with  the  French  from  Canada  in  a  war  upon  the 
Iroquois.  The  savages  willingly  agreed  to  do  their  part, 
and  five  of  them  joined  Tonty  at  once,  and  descended  the 
river  with  him.  The  natives  were  friendly  along  the 
whole  route,  and  in  Holy  Week  they  were  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi  just  three  years  to  a  day  after  La 
Salle's  former  occupation  of  the  region.     They  explored 


i66     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

the  shore  thirty  leagues  in  either  direction,  but  found  no 
trace  of  the  lost  leader.  Denonville's  urgent  commands 
weighed  upon  Tonty  and  he  made  the  daring  proposal  to 
his  men  that  the  party  should  follow  the  Atlantic  coast 
to  Manhatte  (New  York)  and  go  thence  to  Montreal.  He 
could  not  unite  them  in  this  project,  and  so  was  obliged 
to  return  the  way  he  came.  At  the  Isle  of  St.  Henry  by 
the  coast  of  the  sea  of  Florida,  opposite  the  western 
mouth  of  the  River  Colbert,  on  April  13,  i686,  a  formal 
proems  verbal  of  their  voyage  was  executed  by  or  in 
behalf  of  Tonty  and  his  twenty-five  Frenchmen,  four 
Shawanoes  and  five  Illinois,  thirty-four  men  in  all. 

As  they  ascended  the  mighty  stream,  they  halted  at  the 
point  where  the  royal  arms  erected  by  La  Salle  had  been 
thrown  down  by  a  flood,  and  replanted  them  on  a  more 
elevated  site.  In  an  augur  hole  in  a  tree  near  by  Tonty 
placed  a  letter  for  La  Salle.  At  the  Quinnipissa  village 
a  hundred  and  fifty  leagues  from  the  coast  he  left 
another,  recounting  what  had  been  done  and  expressing 
the  greatest  regret  at  the  unsuccessful  search.*^  This 
epistle  the  chief  sacredly  preserved  and  gave  to  D' Iber- 
ville when  he  entered  the  Mississippi  fourteen  years 
later.**  From  these  savages  and  some  Illinois  captives 
in  another  village  near  by,  accounts  of  La  Salle's  arrival 
on  the  coast  were  received,  but  it  was  said  that  he  had 
put  to  sea  in  the  spring,  whether  for  France  or  the  West 
India  Islands  or  for  further  exploration  no  one  could  tell. 
It  was  useless  to  linger  and  Tonty  uttering  a  prayer  for 
La  Salle's  safety,  proceeded  northward.  At  the  Arkan- 
sas River  ten  of  his  men  besought  him  for  concessions  in 
the  seignory  there  which  La  Salle  had  given  him  when 
he  descended  the  Mississippi.  He  made  grants  to  some 
who  remained  at  this  point,  and  set  about  the  construe- 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  167 

tion  of  a  house  protected  by  palisades.  The  rest  of  the 
party  kept  on  their  way  to  Fort  St.  Louis,  arriving  on 
June  24th,  after  an  absence  of  a  little  more  than  four 
months.  The  Frenchmen  were  glad  to  rest,  but  Tonty 
knew  not  the  meaning  of  the  word.  He  persuaded  two 
Illinois  chiefs  to  embark  with  him,  and  pressed  forward 
to  Montreal,  where  he  landed  at  the  end  of  July.  Re- 
maining during  Augfust  to  hold  the  necessary  conferences 
with  Denonville,  he  left  again  for  the  Illinois  country  at 
the  commencement  of  September,  and  beached  his  canoe 
at  the  foot  of  the  rock  of  Fort  St.  Louis  early  in  Decem- 
ber. One  year  before  he  had  left  Mackinac  to  go  to  the 
sea,  and  during  ten  of  the  ensuing  twelve  months,  he 
had  been  journeying  constantly  on  foot  or  in  a  canoe, 
covering  a  distance  of  more  than  five  thousand  miles  and 
twice  traversing  the  continent  between  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  and  the  lower  St.  Lawrence." 

Preparations  were  going  on  apace  for  the  war  with 
the  Iroquois.  Their  fierce  determination  to  destroy  the 
Illinois  tribes  to  which  La  Barre  had  yielded  in  his  dis- 
graceful treaty,  their  pillage  of  Beauvais'  party,  and  their 
attack  upon  Fort  St.  Louis  were  among  the  reasons  for 
the  French  King's  resolve  to  humble  the  pride  of  the 
Five  Nations.**  The  Marquis  de  Denonville,  from  the 
day  he  assumed  office,  had  been  actively  engaged  in 
the  necessary  arrangements.  His  letters  to  La  Forest's 
successor  at  Frontenac;  to  Duluth  who  was  placed  this 
year  in  command  of  a  palisaded  fort  at  the  foot  of  Lake 
Huron  with  a  garrison  of  fifty  men;  and  to  Durantaye 
who  had  returned  from  Chicago  to  Mackinac;  disclose 
the  plan  of  campaign.  As  large  a  force  as  possible  was 
to  proceed  from  Canada  to  the  south  shore  of  Lake 
Ontario  where  they  were  to  meet  as  many  coureurs  de 


i68    CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

bois,  colonists  and  savages  as  could  be  gathered  at  the 
western  posts,  and  together  they  were  to  attack  the 
villages  of  the  Senecas,  the  most  powerful  and  the  most 
troublesome  tribe  of  the  Iroquois.*'  To  La  Forest  as 
commandant  at  the  Illinois,  the  Governor  wrote  on  the 
6th  of  June,  1686,  to  impress  upon  him  the  importance 
of  having  the  Illinois  force  in  readiness  to  march,  and 
himself  at  their  head,  as  soon  as  the  signal  should  be 
g^ven.  If  Tonty  should  return,  it  would  be  well  for  him 
to  take  the  lead,  but  if  the  poor  man  had  perished  on  his 
voyage  to  the  sea,  which  the  Governor  seemed  greatly 
to  fear,  then  La  Forest  was  to  choose  the  best  man  for 
the  place,  if  he  himself  were  unable  to  command.  The 
Governor  promised  to  send  muskets  for  the  Illinois  con- 
tingent to  Duluth's  fort,  and  again  expressed  his  solici- 
tude for  Tonty  concerning  whom  alarming  rumors  had 
reached  him.  And  La  Forest  was  instructed  to  com- 
municate with  the  Jesuit  Father  Engelran  of  the  Green 
Bay  Mission,  who  was  Denonville's  principal  adviser.®* 
But  ere  this  letter  arrived  at  Fort  St.  Louis,  the  man 
who  had  been  almost  given  up  for  lost  appeared  there  in 
such  health  and  spirits  that  he  was  able,  as  we  have  seen, 
to  go  at  once  to  Montreal  to  reassure  the  Governor  and 
give  him  most  valuable  aid  and  counsel  for  the  approach- 
ing campaign. 

When  Tonty  returned  to  Fort  St.  Louis  in  December 
he  sent  out  trusty  messengers  among  the  Illinois  tribes  to 
bid  them  rendezvous  at  his  post  in  good  season  in  the 
spring  for  the  long  march  to  the  country  of  the  Iroquois. 
They  joyfully  complied  and  early  in  April,  1687,  the 
lodges  of  the  war  parties  arose  on  the  prairie  near  the 
fort.  Tonty  welcomed  his  allies  with  appropriate  cere- 
monies including  a  dog  feast  which  gave  much  satisfac- 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  169 

tion,  and  announced  to  the  warriors  that  the  great  King 
beyond  the  ocean,  and  his  servant  at  Quebec,  Onontio, 
desired  them  to  go  on  the  war  path  against  the  children 
of  the  Long  House.  They  heard  him  with  clamorous 
delight,  and  one  and  all  decked  themselves  for  the  fray 
and  performed  their  war  dance.  La  Forest  had  already 
departed  with  thirty  Frenchmen  in  canoes,  arranging  to 
meet  Tonty  on  the  strait  between  Lakes  Huron  and  Erie 
at  the  end  of  May.  Tonty  left  twenty  of  his  men  in  the 
fort  with  Sieur  de  Belief  on  taine  in  command,  and  set 
forth  on  April  17th,  having  with  him  sixteen  Frenchmen 
and  a  Miami  guide.  He  made  his  first  encampment  but 
a  mile  away  and  awaited  there  his  savage  companions. 
Fifty  Shawanoes,  four  Mohegans  and  seven  Miamis 
joined  him  the  first  night  and  the  next  day  more  than 
three  hundred  Illinois  warriors  came  up,  but  only  one 
hundred  and  forty-nine  of  them  were  willing  to  go 
further.  The  little  army  marched  on  foot  across  what 
is  now  northern  Indiana  and  southern  Michigan,  and 
on  May  19th  went  into  camp  on  the  strait  leading  to 
Lake  Erie  near  a  little  stockade  called  by  them  Fort 
Detroit.  While  they  were  making  canoes  of  elm  bark, 
Tonty  sent  a  messenger  to  Fort  St.  Joseph,  as  Duluth's 
new  post  was  called.  The  second  in  command,  Beauvais 
de  Tilly,  soon  appeared  and  was  followed  by  La  Forest, 
Durantaye  and  Duluth  with  their  respective  detachments. 
As  they  disembarked,  Tonty  formed  his  Frenchmen  and 
savages  in  two  rows,  between  which  the  new  comers 
marched  and  exchanged  salutes  with  the  soldiers  from 
the  distant  land  of  the  Illinois.  The  combined  forces 
numbered  one  hundred  and  eighty  Frenchmen  and  four 
hundred  Indians  and  now  launched  their  canoes  on  Lake 
Erie  to  go  to  join  the  troops  from  the  St.  Lawrence. 


I70     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

The  expedition  landed  on  the  Niagara  River  and  estab- 
lished itself  below  the  portage,  where  a  stockade  was 
built,  while  advices  were  awaited  from  Denonville  then 
at  Fort  Frontenac.  La  Forest  went  in  a  swift  canoe,  to 
report  to  him,  and  returned  with  orders  to  meet  the  main 
body  on  July  loth  at  Irondequoit  Bay  on  the  south  shore 
of  Lake  Ontario.®*  The  Governor  led  a  force  of  about 
two  thousand  French  regulars,  militia  and  Indians  who 
crossed  the  lake  in  barques  and  canoes.  And  as  these 
approached  the  bay  on  the  evening  of  the  appointed  day 
the  western  forces  were  seen  plying  their  paddles  along 
the  lake.  This  well  timed  junction  aroused  the  gpreatest 
enthusiasm  among  all  of  the  troops  as  they  disembarked 
together.  "Never,"  says  a  contemporary  writer,  "has 
Canada  seen,  and  never  will  it  see,  a  spectacle  like  to  this; 
the  three  barques  moored  vis-k-vis  to  the  camp,  in  which 
in  one  quarter  were  the  regular  troops  of  France,  with 
the  court  of  the  Governor-General ;  in  another  the  four 
battalions  of  the  Canadian  soldiery  commanded  by  the 
chief  men  of  the  country ;  in  a  third  the  Christian  Indians 
from  the  missions  near  the  settlements;  and  in  the 
remaining  space  a  tumultuous  crowd  of  untamed  savages 
of  different  tribes,  almost  naked,  undisciplined,  their 
bodies  painted  with  all  sorts  of  figures,  wearing  horns  on 
their  heads  and  tails  at  their  backs,  armed  with  bows 
and  arrows  and  keeping  up  an  endless  chatter  the  live- 
long night,  with  songs  and  dances  of  every  kind."  '^  M. 
de  Vaudreuil,  who  had  brought  the  royal  troops  from 
France  acted  as  Chief  of  Staff  to  the  Marquis  de  Denon- 
ville; M.  de  Calliferes  commanded  the  regulars,  and 
Sidrac  Dugu6  the  militia,  with  Berthier,  de  La  Valterye, 
Granville,  and  Le  Moyne  de  Longueuil  as  battalion 
officers,  and  Sainte  H^lene,  another  scion  of  the  famous 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  171 

family  of  Le  Moyne,  ruled  the  three  hundred  Christian 
Indians.  Very  prominent  were  the  three  captains  from 
the  west,  Tonty,  Duluth  and  Durantaye,  and  very  pic- 
turesque were  their  motley  companies  of  bold  wood 
rangers  and  wild  Indian  warriors.  Tonty  occupied  a 
defensive  position  with  his  band  of  French  and  Illinois, 
while  a  fort  was  built  at  the  bay  to  protect  the  line  of 
communication.  On  July  12th  the  whole  army  moved 
towards  the  Seneca  villages,  with  the  three  western 
captains  and  their  men  in  the  van.  Two  dangerous 
defiles  were  passed  without  attack,  but  as  the  line  was 
crossing  a  little  stream  and  ascending  a  wooded  ridge 
beyond,  the  war  cries  of  the  Senecas  were  heard  and 
five  hundred  of  their  warriors  fell  upon  the  advance. 
Most  of  the  western  Indians  fled  at  the  first  discharge 
and  left  exposed  the  flanks  of  Tonty's  detachment  which 
was  at  the  immediate  front.  But  the  Frenchmen  held 
their  ground,  and  those  tried  soldiers,  Duluth  and  Dur- 
antaye ably  supported  their  comrade  Tonty.  In  the  hot 
fight  which  ensued  Tonty's  lieutenant  and  two  of  his 
men  were  slain,  and  the  army  lost  five  white  men  and  six 
Indians  in  all,  while  eleven  were  wounded  including  the 
Jesuit  Father  Engelran.  The  main  body  came  up  led  by 
Denonville  in  his  shirt  sleeves,  sword  in  hand,  shouting 
orders  to  fire  constantly  and  beat  the  drums,  the  sound  of 
which  was  more  terrifying  to  the  savages  than  even  the 
roll  of  musketry.  The  baffled  Senecas,  losing  heart  and 
seeing  themselves  outnumbered,  fled  the  field,  leaving 
twenty-seven  dead  behind,  and  fourteen  others  were  over- 
taken and  scalped  by  the  French  Indians.  The  steady 
courage  of  the  men  of  the  West  saved  the  day.  Denon- 
ville, in  his  dispatches,  praises  most  highly  the  conduct 
of  the  three  captains  and  their  French  followers.    Duran- 


172     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

taye  received  a  commission  in  one  of  the  regular  regi- 
ments, and  Duluth  and  Tonty  and  La  Forest  as  well  were 
specially  recommended  to  the  home  government  for 
reward.  A  week  was  spent  in  destroying  the  crops  and 
villages  of  the  Senecas,  and  while  this  work  was  going 
on  seven  Illinois  warriors  arrived,  armed  with  bows  and 
arrows,  who  had  made  the  long  journey  on  foot  from 
their  distant  land  to  take  part  in  the  fray.^^  Denonville 
withdrew  to  the  coast,  and  his  forces  returned  to  their 
respective  homes.  Tonty  and  Duluth,  accompanied  by 
the  Baron  La  Hontan,  a  picturesque  figure  in  these  early 
annals,  and  later  an  alleged  visitor  to  the  Illinois  region, 
proceeded  to  Duluth's  Fort  St.  Joseph,  of  which  La  Hon- 
tan was  now  put  in  command.  Thence  Father  Jacques 
Gravier,  thereafter  to  be  closely  associated  with  the  land 
of  the  Illinois,  went  with  Tonty  to  Mackinac.  From  this 
point  the  latter  and  his  Frenchmen  set  out  in  their  canoes 
for  Fort  St.  Louis,  their  Indian  companions  having 
returned  by  the  land  route.'* 

While  Tonty  and  his  comrades  were  merrily  pursuing 
their  homeward  way,  rejoicing  in  the  victory  and  the 
honors  they  had  won,  a  melancholy  company  were  slowly 
approaching  Fort  St.  Louis  from  the  opposite  direction. 

La  Salle  lay  dead  in  the  wilderness  on  the  bank  of  one 
of  the  branches  of  the  stream  now  known  as  the  Trinity 
River,  in  the  State  of  Texas.*''  His  vast  plans  had  all 
been  thwarted  by  a  complication  of  disasters,  and  he  met 
his  death  at  an  assassin's  hand  on  the  19th  day  of  March 
in  the  year  1687.  His  few  companions  had  escaped  with 
difficulty  from  his  murderers,  and  made  the  desperate 
attempt  to  find  their  way  to  the  Mississippi  and  so  to  the 
Illinois.  One  of  their  number  was  drowned  while  bath- 
ing,  and  the  six  others,   after  a  toilsome  two  months' 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  173 

journey,  emerged  from  the  forest  upon  the  bank  of  the 
Arkansas  River.  On  the  other  shore,  to  their  inexpres- 
sible delight,  they  saw  a  great  cross,  and  near  it  a  house 
built  after  the  French  fashion.  It  was  the  settlement 
made  by  six  of  Tonty's  men  on  his  return  from  his  last 
journey  to  the  sea,  four  of  whom  had  since  gone  to  the 
Illinois  region,  and  the  wayfarers  were  most  heartily 
welcomed  by  the  remaining  two.  These  were  Couture 
and  Delaunay,  both  natives  of  Rouen,  who  heard  with 
exceeding  sorrow  of  the  untoward  fate  of  their  former 
leader  and  fellow  townsman.®*  One  of  the  travelers  cast 
in  his  lot  with  Tonty's  men,  and  the  remaining  five 
departed  on  July  27th  to  ascend  the  Mississippi.®''  These 
were  the  Abb^  Cavelier,  La  Salle's  elder  brother,  his 
nephew,  young  Cavelier,  Father  Anastase  Douay,  of  the 
Recollet  order,  Teissier,  a  mariner,  and  Henri  de  Joutel.** 
The  latter  was  a  native  of  Rouen,  son  of  a  gardener,  who 
had  been  employed  by  La  Salle's  uncle.  He  had  served 
sixteen  years  in  the  French  army,  and  had  volunteered 
in  La  Salle's  last  expedition,  of  which  he  has  left  us  a  very 
full  and  well  written  account.®'  When  this  expedition  set 
forth  from  France  in  1684  it  comprised  one  hundred  and 
seventy-three  men,  besides  some  women  and  children. 
The  only  fragments  of  the  organization  which  remained 
were  barely  twenty  people  at  La  Salle's  new  fort  on  the 
Texas  coast,  a  single  soldier  at  the  Arkansas,  and  this 
forlorn  band  of  five  persons  now  seeking  refuge  at  Fort 
St.  Louis.  *«« 

On  August  19th  they  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio 
River,  of  which  Joutel  says  it  is  a  very  beautiful  stream, 
with  very  clear  water  and  a  very  gentle  current.  To  it 
their  Indian  guide  whom  they  had  secured  at  a  village  on 
the  Mississippi  offered  sacrifices  of  tobacco  and  broile?d 


174     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

meat  placed  on  forked  sticks  on  its  banks  to  be  disposed 
of  as  the  river  might  think  fit.  As  they  skirted  the  Illi- 
nois shore  of  the  Mississippi  they  found  the  country 
diversified  with  hillocks  covered  with  oak  and  walnut 
groves.  There  was  great  store  of  plums  and  of  fruits 
whose  names  they  did  not  know,  and  an  abundance  of 
buffalo  and  other  game.  September  ist  they  saw  on 
their  left  the  muddy  waters  of  the  headlong  Missouri,  to 
which  also  their  Indians  made  offerings,  and  the  next 
day  arrived  at  the  place  where  were  the  paintings  of  the 
monsters  described  by  Marquette,  as  Joutel  supposed. 
But  as  he  speaks  of  these  as  two  wretched  figures  drawn 
in  red  on  the  flat  side  of  a  rock  ten  or  twelve  feet  high,  it 
is  evident  that  he  could  not  have  seen  those  mentioned 
by  Marquette.  Poor  as  these  were,  the  superstitious 
natives  paid  homage  to  them  also,  despite  Joutel's  remon- 
strances, to  which  they  replied  that  they  should  die,  if 
they  did  not  perform  this  duty.  On  the  3d,  the  party  left 
the  Mississippi  to  enter  the  River  of  the  Illinois."*  Its 
gentle  current  and  beautiful  shores  were  very  agfreeable 
to  them,  and  they  made  good  progress  except  when  they 
attempted  to  follow  some  directions  given  them  by  Cou- 
ture, and  missed  the  channel.  Passing  many  abandoned 
Indian  camps  and  the  landmark  of  the  two  isolated  and 
rounded  hills  to  which  the  voyageurs  had  given  the  name 
of  Les  Deux  Mamelles,  they  came  on  the  nth  to  Lake 
Pimiteoui.  Signs  that  a  band  of  natives  was  just  in 
advance  of  them  were  observed,  and  on  the  13th  several 
were  seen  on  the  river  bank.  One  came  to  reconnoitre, 
and  upon  learning  that  the  strangers  were  La  Salle's 
men,  great  delight  was  shown  and  salutes  of  musketry 
were  interchanged.  The  savages,  upon  being  asked  of 
what  nation  they  were,  replied  that  they  were  Illinois  of 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  175 

the  Kaskaskia  tribe.  They  also  informed  the  Frenchmen 
that  Tonty  had  not  yet  returned  from  the  Iroquois  war. 
The  next  day,  as  they  neared  their  goal,  other  natives 
appeared  on  the  shore,  to  whom  the  travelers  repeatedly 
called  that  they  were  of  the  people  of  La  Salle.  At 
length  the  magic  name  was  recognized,  and  a  swift  run- 
ner of  the  Shawanoe  tribe  called  Turpin  sped  away  to 
carry  the  news  to  Fort  St.  Louis,  which  loomed  in  the 
distance,  above  the  valley. 

The  breathless  messenger,  understanding  that  La  Salle 
himself  was  of  the  party,  so  announced  at  the  gateway. 
Quickly  a  Frenchman  was  seen  descending  the  steep  path 
amid  a  throng  of  Indians,  who  were  firing  their  pieces  in 
welcome.  He  uttered  friendly  greetings  as  he  drew  near, 
and  joined  with  the  natives  in  inviting  them  to  land. 
They  did  so,  leaving  one  man  to  guard  the  canoe,  and 
their  dusky  hosts  presented  them  with  dried  pumpkins, 
water  melons,  corn  and  bread.  Then  with  their  tumul- 
tuous escort  they  walked  towards  the  fort,  whence 
other  Frenchmen,  one  of  whom  was  Boisrondet,  came  to 
meet  them.  These  all  embraced  them,  and  with  one 
voice  inquired  for  La  Salle.  Cavelier  had  agreed  with 
his  associates  to  conceal  his  brother's  death,  pretending 
this  to  be  necessary  to  control  the  Indians,  but  really  for 
his  own  advantage  as  the  representative  of  the  absent 
chief.  He  therefore  replied  that  La  Salle  had  come  part 
of  the  way  with  them,  and  was  in  good  health  when  they 
parted,  and  had  instructed  them  to  proceed  in  advance 
to  France  to  report  his  discoveries.  His  companions 
acquiesced  in  this  deception,  which  was  readily  accepted 
as  the  truth  by  the  inquirers  who  joined  the  throng  which 
accompanied  the  newcomers  to  the  fort.  Here  they 
found  the  Sieur  de  Bellefontaine,  Tonty's  lieutenant,  and 


176     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

commanding  in  his  absence,  at  the  head  of  his  garrison 
paraded  under  arms,  who  had  received  them  with  salvos 
of  musketry  and  every  sign  of  rejoicing.  ^°^ 

As  soon  as  the  wayfarers  entered,  the  Ahh6  Cavelier 
asked  for  the  chapel,  and  led  the  way  thither  to  return 
thanks  to  God  for  their  marvelous  preservation.  A  Te 
Deum  was  chanted  within  the  rude  walls,  while  volleys 
were  fired  without.  The  worshipers  performed  their 
devotions  with  uneasy  consciences,  for  they  realized  that 
such  enthusiasm  would  make  it  easy  to  send  aid  forthwith 
to  La  Salle's  miserable  colonists  on  the  gulf.  But  now 
their  falsehood  had  sealed  their  lips  and  obliged  them  to 
delay  the  much-needed  succor  until  they  could  reach 
France.  They  went  next  to  the  building  in  which  were 
the  officers'  quarters,  and  while  they  were  there  made  at 
home,  bands  of  savages  came  in  quick  succession  to  dis- 
charge their  pieces  at  the  door  in  token  of  their  joy  at  the 
news  from  La  Salle.  Bellefontaine  gave  the  Abb^  an 
apartment  by  himself,  and  Father  Douay,  Joutel  and  the 
rest  were  lodged  in  the  great  storeroom  of  merchandise 
and  peltries  of  which  Boisrondet  had  charge.  The  fort 
appeared  much  as  at  the  time  of  its  erection  four  years 
before.  The  palisades  and  wooden  redoubts  surrounding 
the  acre  and  a  half  on  the  summit  of  the  rock,  the  log 
houses  and  the  lighter  picket  structures,  and  the  four 
gfreat  beams  from  which  water  could  be  drawn  to  the  top 
of  the  cliff  in  case  of  siege,  were  all  noted  by  the  trained 
eye  of  the  soldier  Joutel.  A  number  of  huts  had  also 
been  erected  within  the  walls  of  the  fort  by  the  savages, 
who  took  refuge  there  at  the  approach  of  an  Iroquois 
invading  force.  "^  And  in  one  part  of  the  enclosure  was  a 
striking  illustration  of  the  burial  customs  of  the  Illinois 
and  of  their  reverence  for  their  mighty  dead.     In  a  sort 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  177 

of  wooden  coffin  supported  upon  four  posts  were  the 
bones  of  one  whom  they  described  as  that  ruler  of  their 
nation  who  had  welcomed  La  Salle  to  that  land  and  made 
him  a  present  of  it,  and  recogfnized  him  as  the  father  of 
that  people."*  This  must  have  been  the  great  chief  Chas- 
sagoac,  with  whom  La  Salle  had  the  remarkable  confer- 
ence at  the  old  Indian  village  six  leagues  above  the  site 
of  Fort  St.  Louis,  on  his  way  from  Crbvecoeur  to  Fronte- 
nac  in  the  spring  of  1680.  It  seemed  as  if  the  tribe  held 
Chassagoac  in  such  reverence  as  to  take  special  care  that 
his  remains  should  not  be  desecrated  by  such  outrages  as 
the  Iroquois  had  committed  in  their  terrible  invasion,  and 
so  had  brought  these  to  sleep  undisturbed  within  the 
white  man's  stronghold. 

In  one  of  the  apartments  of  the  fort  there  lay  ill  La 
Salle's  old  opponent,  the  Jesuit  Father  AUouez.  He 
manifested  great  alarm  upon  the  arrival  of  Cavelier's 
party  understanding  at  first  that  La  Salle  was  with  them. 
When  the  priests  and  Joutel  came  to  call  upon  him  he 
inquired  concerning  their  leader,  and  was  told  that  when 
La  Salle  left  them  he  intended  to  come  to  the  Illinois 
country  and  might  be  there  in  a  little  time.  Allouez 
heard  the  news  with  much  agitation,  and  began  at  once 
to  plan,  as  on  other  occasions,  to  depart  before  La  Salle's 
arrival.  Cavelier  was  impatient  to  be  oflE  that  he  might 
reach  Quebec  in  season  to  sail  for  France  that  year,  and 
tarried  but  three  days  at  Fort  St.  Louis.  He  made  the 
acquaintance  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Kaskaskia  and  Peoria 
tribes  who  were  established  there,  of  the  Shawanoes  who 
had  dwelt  in  the  neighborhood  since  they  came  at  La 
Salle's  invitation  in  1683,  and  of  the  Miamis  who  were 
encamped  a  league  or  more  up  the  river  upon  the  eleva- 
tion now  known  as  Buffalo  Rock.     The  fortunate  arrival 


178     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

of  three  voyageurs  from  Mackinac,  who  were  willing  to 
act  as  their  guides  and  canoemen  thither,  enabled  the  five 
Frenchmen  who  had  traveled  all  the  way  from  the  Texas 
coast  to  resume  their  adventurous  journey  on  September 
18,  1687.  Accompanied  by  a  dozen  savages  detailed  by 
the  chief  of  the  Shawanoes  to  carry  their  provisions  and 
peltries,  they  made  such  expedition,  considering  the  shal- 
lowness of  the  river,  that  in  a  week's  time  they  arrived 
at  the  place  called  Checagou.  Joutel  carefully  records, 
and  this  is  probably  the  earliest  definition  of  the  word, 
establishing  its  meaning  beyond  all  doubt,  that  it  takes 
this  name  from  the  quantity  of  garlic  which  grows  in  the 
woods  in  this  locality.  He  describes  the  portage,  the 
streams  on  either  side,  and  the  other  natural  features  so 
minutely  that  there  can  be  no  question  but  that  the  place 
referred  to  is  the  site  of  the  great  city  of  to-day.  Here 
they  were  storm-stayed  for  eight  days,  and,  when  at  length 
they  embarked  on  Lake  Michigan,  waves  as  large  as  those 
of  the  ocean,  and  fear  of  a  scarcity  of  provisions  com- 
pelled them  to  return  to  the  entrance  of  the  River  of  Che- 
cagou. At  this  point  they  made  a  cache  of  their  goods, 
peltries  and  ammunition,  built  a  platform  on  which  they 
left  the  canoe  since  low  water  made  the  streams  unnavi- 
gable,  and  set  out  on  foot  for  Fort  St.  Louis,  where  they 
appeared  again  on  October  7th,  to  the  great  surprise  of 
the  garrison,  who  had  believed  them  to  be  far  on  their 
way  to  Montreal."® 

Some  of  Tonty's  Indian  cohorts  had  already  reached 
the  fort,  bringing  tidings  of  the  attack  upon  the  Five 
Nations,  and  on  the  27th  of  October  the  "man  with  the 
iron  arm"  himself  appeared  with  his  soldier  comrades, 
among  whom  was  one  of  his  cousins,  Greysolon  de  La 
Tourette,  a  younger  brother  of  the  famous  Greysolon 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  179 

Duluth.  Tonty  gave  Cavelier's  party  a  cordial  greet- 
ing, and  listened  with  absorbing  interest  to  their  accounts 
of  La  Salle's  ill-starred  expedition  and  their  own  experi- 
ences. They  concealed  from  him  also  the  death  of  La 
Salle,  having  agreed  not  to  speak  of  this  until  they  were 
in  France.  Tonty,  at  their  request,  gave  them  a  sketch 
of  what  had  taken  place  in  the  recent  campaign,  including 
the  capture  of  English  trading  parties  on  Lakes  Huron 
and  Erie,  who  were  on  their  way  to  make  an  establish- 
ment in  the  Illinois  country.  During  the  autumn  La 
Forest  came  again  to  Fort  St.  Louis,  to  pass  the  winter 
with  his  fellow  captain  in  the  Iroquois  war.  December 
20th  two  Frenchmen  arrived  at  the  post  and  reported 
that  they  had  left  at  Checagou  three  canoes  loaded  with 
merchandise  and  ammunition  which  the  canoemen,  who 
had  brought  them  from  Montreal,  could  not  proceed 
further  with,  because  of  ice  in  the  river.  Tonty  at  once 
arranged  with  the  chief  of  the  Shawanoes  to  send  thirty 
of  his  people  to  bring  these  supplies  to  the  fort.  Joutel 
says  they  employed  this  tribe  because  of  their  fidelity, 
and  that  they  could  go  among  the  whites  and  through  the 
storehouse  without  anything  being  missed.  The  Illinois, 
on  the  contrary,  he  says,  are  naturally  rogues,  and  it  is 
very  necessary  to  keep  watch  of  their  feet  as  well  as  their 
hands  when  anything  is  within  reach  of  either.  One  of 
the  two  men  who  brought  advices  of  the  canoes  at  Chi- 
cago was  the  Sieur  Juchereau  de  Saint  Denis,  a  distin- 
guished Canadian,  Durantaye's  second  in  command  at 
Mackinac,  whom  Tonty  as  he  passed  that  station  on  his 
homeward  voyage  had  invited  to  make  him  a  visit  at  the 
Illinois  to  enjoy  the  good  hunting  there.  Game  was 
abundant  well  through  the  winter,  and  in  good  condition 
as  there  were  plenteous  supplies  of  nuts  and  acorns  for 


i8o     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

food.  Merry  companies  sallied  forth  upon  the  frozen 
river  at  daybreak,  drawing  light  sledges  which  they 
brought  back  to  the  fort  at  nightfall  laden  with  deer/'* 
"Of  our  living,"  says  the  chronicler,  "there  was  no  com- 
plaint to  make,  except  that  we  had  nothing  but  water  to 
drink. ' '  The  winter  passed  swiftly  with  hunting  parties 
by  day  and  pleasant  gatherings  at  night  around  cheery 
log  fires  in  the  snug  quarters  of  the  fort.  Within,  soldier 
and  priest,  trapper  and  native,  mingled  together  and 
related  tales  of  foray  and  ambuscade,  of  stormy  ocean 
voyages  and  weary  journeys  through  the  wilderness. 
Without,  the  snow  lay  deep  on  all  the  land  of  the  Illinois, 
and  the  nearest  white  men  were  at  the  little  mission  at 
the  head  of  the  distant  Green  Bay.  There  was  occasional 
excitement,  moreover,  at  the  departure  and  return  of  the 
savage  war  parties  which  kept  up  the  contest  with  the 
bloodthirsty  Iroquois.  In  the  month  of  January  alone 
the  Abb6  Cavelier  saw  thirteen  such  expeditions  of  Illi- 
nois Indians  set  out  from  Fort  St.  Louis,  two  of  forty  and 
eleven  of  twenty  warriors  each,  or  three  hundred  in  all. 
The  Miamis  put  in  the  field  one  band  of  eighty  and  sev- 
eral smaller  ones,  while  the  Shawanoes  sent  several  num- 
bering one  hundred  and  fifty  in  all.  One  at  least  of  the 
Illinois  parties  returned  to  the  fort  with  Iroquois  pris- 
oners of  whom  six  were  made  slaves,  and  six  were  burned 
at  the  stake.  During  that  winter  and  spring  the  Illinois 
furnished  tangible  proofs,  presumably  scalps^  that  they 
had  put  to  death  two  hundred  and  forty  persons  among 
the  Iroquois  in  their  own  land."''  Tonty  relates  that  the 
Five  Nations  attempted  to  make  reprisals,  but  were  val- 
iantly withstood  by  the  Illinois,  who  had  greatly  improved 
in  the  art  of  war  under  French  guidance  and  so  harried 
the  Senecas  that  this  tribe  was  obliged  to  remain  in  its 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  i8i 

villages  all  winter  and  refrain  from  raids  upon  the 
Canadian  settlements.  Furthermore,  he  says,  "our  Illi- 
nois have  captured  and  brought  to  Fort  St.  Louis  eighty 
Iroquois  slaves. ' '  And  he  adds  with  a  ferocious  exultation 
which  we  regret  to  see  in  him,  but  for  which  his  times 
were  in  a  measure  responsible,  "we  have  made  a  good 
broiling  of  them. ' '  ^"* 

Apprehension  lest  some  of  the  men  at  the  Arkansas 
settlement  should  come  to  Fort  St.  Louis  and  reveal  the 
truth  concerning  La  Salle,  spurred  Cavelier  to  as  early  a 
departure  as  the  season  permitted.  But  his  anxiety  was 
surpassed  by  that  of  AUouez,  who  set  out  a  week  or 
more  before  him.^"'  One  feared  the  arrival  of  the  living 
La  Salle,  the  other  the  receipt  of  the  news  of  his  death. 
Cavelier  produced  an  order  which  La  Salle  had  given  him 
when  his  return  to  France  by  way  of  Canada  was  first 
planned,  directing  Tonty  to  give  Cavelier  what  he  needed 
for  the  expenses  of  the  party,  and  2,652  livres  in  payment 
of  La  Salle's  indebtedness  to  his  brother,""  The  unsus- 
picious Tonty  honored  the  draft,  never  dreaming  that  the 
maker  was  no  longer  in  the  land  of  the  living,  and  gave 
Cavelier  four  thousand  livres  in  beaver,  and  a  canoe.'" 
Thus  provided,  the  unscrupulous  priest  made  rpady  to 
resume  his  course,  with  his  five  associates  and  five  sav- 
ages whom  he  added  to  his  party.  Of  these  two  were 
Illinois,  two  Shawanoes,  and  the  fifth  a  young  captive 
from  one  of  the  Missouri  River  tribes  who  had  been  given 
to  La  Salle.  "This  one,"  says  Joutel,  "had  learned  to 
speak  French  and  had  been  baptized,  but  he  was  no 
better  Christian  for  all  of  that. ' '  Boisrondet,  who  had 
concluded  to  go  to  France,  and  Juchereau,  who  wished  to 
return  to  his  post  at  Mackinac,  joined  the  departing  com 
pany,  who  bade  farewell  to  Fort  St.  Louis  on  March  21, 


i82     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

1688.  It  was  doubtless  a  grief  to  Tonty  to  part  with 
Boisrondet,  the  tried  comrade  who  had  been  faithful 
among  the  faithless  in  the  Cr^vecoeur  mutiny,  and  brav- 
est of  the  brave  at  the  time  of  the  Iroquois  invasion. 
This  loyal  and  gallant  soul  deserves  honorable  remem- 
brance among  the  pioneers  of  Illinois. 

A  hard  journey  of  eight  days,  during  which  they  were 
often  compelled  to  wade  in  icy  water  over  the  rocky  bot- 
tom of  the  stream,  drawing  the  heavy  canoes  by  main 
force  against  the  current,  brought  the  travelers  to  Chi- 
cago. Joutel  pushed  on  in  advance  to  the  cache  by  the 
lake  shore,  and  found  some  articles  abstracted,  as  he 
believed,  by  a  Frenchman  who  had  been  sent  there  dur- 
ing the  winter  by  Tonty  to  see  whether  any  canoes  had 
arrived  or  savages  gathered  at  this  place.  The  garrison 
of  Fort  Checagou  had  apparently  been  withdrawn  to  take 
part  in  the  Iroquois  campaign  of  1687,  and  the  buildings 
of  the  post  were  occupied  only  by  occasional  parties  of 
Indians.  Severe  weather  delayed  Cavelier  and  his  com- 
panions here  until  April  8th,  and  their  hunting  yielded 
but  little  game.  They  eked  out  their  scanty  larder  with 
a  species  of  manna  which  they  thought  Providence  had 
provided  to  make  their  Indian  corn  more  palatable.  This 
was  the  sap  of  the  maple  tree  abounding  in  the  vicinity, 
boiled  into  sugar,  which  seemed  to  be  almost  as  good  as 
that  bought  in  France.  Great  quantities  of  garlic  and  of 
another  herb  like  the  chervil  were  also  gathered  and 
found  very  good."*  The  observant  Joutel  describes  the 
situation  of  the  place  called  Checagou,  and  its  river, 
formed  by  the  water  flowing  from  a  prairie,  which,  he 
says,  discharges  into  the  lake,  as  well  as  the  stream  flow- 
ing from  the  other  side  of  that  prairie  which  goes  to  join 
the  Illinois  River ;  so  that,  whether  one  is  descending  or 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  183 

ascending,  it  is  necessary  to  make  a  portage,  sometimes 
a  quarter  of  a  league,  at  others  half  or  three-quarters  of 
a  league,  according  as  the  waters  rise  or  fall.  He  formed 
the  same  opinion  which  Jolliet  had  come  to  at  the  same 
place,  that  it  would  be  easy  to  make  a  junction  between 
the  two  rivers  which  we  know  as  the  Chicago  and  the  Des 
Plaines,  since  the  intervening  ground  was  flat  and  readily 
excavated.  But  Joutel  says  that  it  would  require  a  con- 
siderable settlement  there  to  justify  such  an  expense."' 

The  travelers  embarked  upon  Lake  Michigan  and  after 
a  ten  days'  halt  at  the  Pottawattamie  village,  midway  to 
Mackinac,  landed  on  the  loth  of  May  at  the  latter  place, 
where  Juchereau  remained.  Cavelier  and  the  others  were 
delayed  here  by  fear  of  the  Iroquois,  who  were  taking 
every  opportunity  to  revenge  themselves  for  Denonville's 
attack  of  the  previous  year.  "*  This  very  spring  a  gallant 
soul,  whose  name  stands  high  among  the  early  explorers 
of  Illinois,  had  fallen  a  victim  to  their  arms.  The  Sieur 
d'Autray,  the  same  whom  La  Salle  described  as  "always 
very  faithful  and  very  brave, "  after  his  adventurous  jour- 
neys had  established  himself  upon  the  concession  granted 
him  at  Fort  St.  Louis.  When  the  summons  came  to 
march  against  the  Senecas  in  1687,  he  accompanied 
Tonty  and  did  good  service  in  that  campaign.  The  fol- 
lowing winter  he  passed  in  Canada,  and  set  out  in  the 
spring  to  return  to  his  Illinois  "house  and  seignory. " 
He  escorted  a  convoy  to  Fort  Frontenac  and  proceeding 
thence,  probably  almost  alone,  while  en  route  for  his 
western  home  was  set  upon  and  slain  by  the  merciless 
Iroquois.  "^ 

The  return  to  Quebec  of  the  Sieur  de  Portneuf,  who 
had  just  brought  dispatches  from  Denonville  to  the  West 
with  a  small  force,  gave  Cavelier's  people  protection  for 


i84     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

their  further  journey.  Four  canoes  conveying  twenty- 
nine  persons  set  out  June  20th,  and  by  the  route  of  the 
French  and  Ottawa  Rivers  came  to  Montreal  without  mis- 
hap. Cavelier's  party  met  here  the  Governor  and  the 
Intendant,  Champigny,  to  whom  they  told  their  tale  of 
hardship,  but  still  concealed  La  Salle's  death;  and  passed 
on  to  Quebec,  whence  they  sailed  with  their  five  Indians, 
and  disembarked  at  Rochelle,  October  9,  1688.  Eight- 
een months  had  elapsed  since  these  few  men,  illy 
equipped  for  such  an  undertaking,  left  the  Texas  coast  to 
go  by  the  way  of  the  Mississippi,  the  Great  Lakes  and  the 
St.  Lawrence  to  the  Atlantic,  and  to  cross  to  the  shores 
of  France.  Joutel  well  said  that  God  had  aided  them  to 
accomplish  this  journey.  Boisrondet  went  to  his  native 
city  of  Orleans,  taking  with  him  the  young  Indian  from 
the  Missouri,  Father  Douay  set  out  alone  for  Paris; 
Joutel  and  the  two  Illinois  Indians  stayed  at  Rouen, 
whence  Cavelier  proceeded  to  Paris  to  inform  the  Mar- 
quis de  Seignelay  of  all  that  had  happened  to  them, 
having  pledged  his  comrades  to  secrecy  as  to  the  death 
of  La  Salle,  until  he  had  made  this  official  report."® 

Tonty  meanwhile  kept  anxious  watch  at  Fort  St.  Louis 
hoping  each  day  to  see  La  Salle's  canoe  ascending  the 
stream.  But  on  September  7th,  while  the  men  who  had 
concealed  their  leader's  fate  were  tossing  on  the  Atlantic, 
Couture,  with  two  natives,  arrived  at  the  fort,  and 
revealed  the  sad  truth  as  heard  from  the  lips  of  Cavelier 
at  the  Arkansas  post.  Tonty' s  generous  heart  burned 
with  indignation  at  the  injustice  to  himself,  but  more  at 
the  wrong  to  the  luckless  persons  left  on  the  gulf  coast. 
He  resolved  to  rescue  them,  and  at  the  same  time  strike 
a  blow  at  the  Spaniards  in  Mexico  with  the  aid  of  the 
southwestern   tribes,   who  had    urged    Cavelier  to  lead 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  185 

them  against  that  people.  He  only  needed  the  authority 
of  Denonville  to  undertake  the  expedition,  and  sent 
Couture  to  Mackinac  to  obtain  the  latest  dispatches  from 
the  Governor.  A  hundred  leagues  from  Fort  St.  Louis, 
the  messenger  was  wrecked  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Mich- 
igan, and  losing  everything,  with  difficulty  made  his  way 
back.  In  the  meantime,  however,  Tonty  received  a 
letter  from  Denonville  informing  him  that  he  was  to 
do  nothing  against  the  Iroquois,  and  that  war  had 
been  declared  with  Spain.  This  relieved  the  Illinois 
commandant  from  the  duty  of  making  forays  upon 
the  Five  Nations  and  the  danger  of  reprisals  by  them, 
and  left  the  way  open  to  carry  out  his  plan.  Once 
more  he  prepared  to  descend  the  Mississippi,  and  set  out 
on  December  3d  in  a  pirogue,  or  canoe  hollowed  from  a 
tree  trunk,  with  five  Frenchmen,  one  of  the  faithful 
Shawanoes,  and  two  native  slaves.  His  cousin  had  pre- 
ceded him  hunting  in  advance  of  the  expedition,  which  he 
was  to  accompany.  La  Forest  was  expected  at  Fort  St. 
Louis  about  this  time,  and  Tonty  intended  to  leave  him 
in  command.  But  as  he  did  not  appear,  Tonty  was 
obliged,  when  he  overtook  his  cousin,  to  send  him  back 
to  take  charge  of  the  post.  "^  This  young  commander  of 
the  Illinois  country,  the  Sieur  Greysolon  de  La  Tourette, 
is  described  in  the  correspondence  of  the  time  as  "an 
intelligent  lad."  That  he  was  of  the  same  stock  as  his 
famous  elder  brother  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  in  the 
preceding  year  he  led  a  trading  expedition  far  to  the 
north  of  Lake  Superior,  and  on  hearing  of  the  outbreak 
of  the  war  with  the  Iroquois,  came  all  the  way  from  Lake 
Nipigon  to  the  Niagara  River  with  a  single  canoe  to  join 
the  army,  a  feat  considered  most  hazardous  by  those 
engaged  in  that  campaign."* 


i86     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

Tonty  encountered  on  the  17th  of  the  month  a  band  of 
the  Illinois  at  the  mouth  of  their  river,  who  during  the 
cessation  of  Iroquois  warfare  had  been  carrying  on  hos- 
tilities with  the  Osages  of  the  Missouri.  They  were 
returning  from  one  of  these  conflicts  in  which  they  had  lost 
thirteen  men  and  taken  one  hundred  and  thirty  prison- 
ers. Amid  the  noisy  farewells  of  these  redoubtable  war- 
riors Tonty  pushed  out  into  the  strong  current  of  the 
Mississippi.  Three  months  or  more  of  arduous  travel  by 
river  and  through  forest  brought  his  little  party  to  the 
villages  of  the  Caddoes  on  the  Red  River,  where  four  of 
his  Frenchmen  refused  to  go  farther.  They  defied  his 
authority,  and  he  was  compelled  to  leave  them  behind, 
while  with  one  white  man  and  the  faithful  redskin  he 
made  his  way  to  a  village  eighty  leagues  away,  where 
some  of  the  conspirators  against  La  Salle  were  reported 
to  be.  Arriving  there  Tonty  soon  satisfied  himself  that 
they  had  met  the  fate  they  deserved  at  the  hands  of  the 
natives.  These  refused  him  gfuides,  and  his  ammunition 
was  nearly  exhausted.  For  these  reasons  he  found  him- 
self obliged  to  abandon  his  project  at  a  point  eighty 
leagues  distant  from  La  Salle's  post  on  the  Gulf,  and 
three  days'  journey  from  the  place  of  his  murder.  Of 
this  dastardly  deed  Tonty  obtained  further  particulars 
which  are  preserved  in  his  Memoir  addressed  to  the  Min- 
ister Pontchartrain,  in  1693.  From  this  and  from  Joutel's 
journal,  it  appears  that  after  La  Salle  had  by  mistake 
gone  beyond  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  in  his  attempt 
to  reach  it  by  sea,  and  had  located  his  post  on  the  Texas 
coast,  loss  of  supplies  through  the  shipwreck  of  a  vessel, 
and  other  misfortunes,  compelled  him  to  set  out  for  the 
Illinois  country  by  land,  with  a  small  party  to  bring  back 
aid  to  the  others.    Two  of  his  men,  disaffected  because  of 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  187 

the  failure  of  the  enterprise  in  which  they  had  a  pecun- 
iary interest,  and  falsely  charging  La  Salle  with  having 
caused  the  death  of  a  comrade,  plotted  their  leader's  life. 
"And  as,"  to  use  Tonty's  words, "in  long  journeys  there 
are  always  discontented  persons,  they  easily  found  par- 
tisans." They  determined  to  dispatch  also  La  Salle's 
nephew,  Moranget,  who  was  likewise  obnoxious  to  them, 
and  an  opportunity  occurring  when  he,  with  La  Salle's 
devoted  Shawnee  hunter  Nika  and  his  servant  Saget, 
were  encamped  apart  from  the  others,  these  three  were 
murdered  in  their  sleep.  At  daybreak  the  villains  heard 
the  reports  of  pistols  which  were  fired  as  signals  by  La 
Salle,  who  was  coming  with  Father  Douay  in  search  of 
the  rest  of  the  party.  The  wretches  laid  in  wait  for  him, 
placing  one  of  their  number  in  sight.  When  La  Salle 
came  near  he  asked  where  his  nephew  was.  The  man, 
keeping  on  his  hat  and  showing  no  sign  of  respect  to 
his  commander,  answered  that  Moranget  was  behind. 
As  La  Salle  advanced  to  remind  the  insolent  fellow  of  his 
duty,  those  in  the  ambuscade  discharged  their  pieces,  and 
the  great  explorer  fell  dead  with  three  bullets  in  his 
brain.  With  ferocious  exultation  the  assassins  rushed  to 
the  spot,  their  leader  repeating  again  and  again;  "There 
thou  liest,  great  bashaw,  there  thou  liest."  They 
stripped  the  corpse,  dragged  it  naked  among  the  bushes, 
and  left  it  exposed  to  the  ravenous  wild  beasts,  refusing 
the  request  of  the  Abh6  Cavelier  that  he  might  go  and 
bury  the  body  of  his  brother.  Tonty  closes  his  brief  and 
feeling  account  with  this  noble  tribute  to  the  man  whom 
he  had  served  so  well,  which  Margry  has  fitly  made  the 
motto  of  his  great  volumes  relating  to  La  Salle:  "Behold 
the  fate  of  one  of  the  greatest  men  of  the  age ;  of  wonderful 
ability,  and  capable  of  accomplishing  any  enterprise. ' ' "' 


i88     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

On  May  loth  Tonty  with  his  two  faithful  followers 
reached  the  villages  of  the  Caddoes,  and  thence  shaped 
their  course  towards  the  Mississippi.  After  forty  leagues 
march  and  crossing  seven  rivers,  they  came  to  one  which 
had  burst  its  banks  and  overflowed  the  whole  country. 

They  crossed  fifty  leagues  of  flooded  land  on  a  raft, 
finding  only  one  little  island  of  dry  land  on  which  they 
killed  a  bear  and  dried  his  flesh.  It  rained  day  and  night ; 
they  were  obliged  to  sleep  on  tree  trunks  placed  side  by 
side,  to  make  their  fires  on  these  platforms,  to  build  new 
rafts  again  and  again,  to  eat  their  dogs,  and  to  carry  their 
equipage  on  their  backs  through  interminable  cane 
brakes.  "In  short,"  says  Tonty,  "I  never  suffered  so 
much  in  my  life  as  in  this  journey  to  the  Mississippi, 
where  we  arrived  the  nth  of  July."  The  last  day  of 
that  month  they  came  to  the  haven  of  rest  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Arkansas  so  providentially  established  by  Tonty 
on  his  preceding  Mississippi  voyage.  He  was  detained 
here  by  a  sudden  fever,  but  rose  from  his  sick  bed  on  the 
eleventh  day  of  August,  and  pushed  onward  until  he 
landed  once  more  at  his  own  Illinois  post  in  the  month 
of  September,  1689."" 

It  was  while  Tonty  was  absent  on  this  expedition,  if 
at  all,  that  the  readable  but  untrustworthy  author.  Baron 
La  Hontan,  visited  the  land  of  the  Illinois.  This  young 
Gascon  came  to  Canada  in  1683,  as  an  officer  in  one  of 
the  companies  of  troops  sent  to  take  part  in  La  Barre's 
abortive  campaign  against  the  Iroquois  in  the  following 
year.  He  served  also  in  Denonville's  more  successful 
expedition,  and  afterwards,  as  we  have  seen,  accompanied 
Tonty  to  Fort  St.  Joseph,  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Huron,  and 
relieved  Duluth  in  the  command  of  that  post.  In  April, 
1688,  he  went  to  Mackinac,  and  was  there  when  Cavelier, 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  189 

with  what  La  Hontan  calls  his  "parti-colored  retinue"  of 
Frenchmen  and  savages,  disembarked  at  that  place. 
The  Baron  shrewdly  surmised  that  La  Salle  was  dead, 
because  he  did  not  return  with  the  others,  although  they 
asserted  that  he  was  alive  and  well.  From  Mackinac 
La  Hontan  professed  to  have  made  a  journey  beyond  the 
Mississippi,  and  to  have  discovered  there  the  remarkable 
Long  or  Dead  River,  with  singular  tribes  on  its  banks, 
by  which  canoes  could  go  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and 
thence,  by  a  stream  flowing  westward,  to  the  Pacific. 
His  account  is  entertaining,  but  has  been  long  since 
wholly  discredited.  After  making  this  mythical  expedi- 
tion he  alleges  that  he  descended  the  Mississippi  to  the 
Missouri,  and  made  a  three  days'  journey  up  that  stream 
and  returned,  continued  his  route  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Ohio,  and  then  ascended  the  Mississippi  to  the  Illinois 
River,  which  he  entered  April  10,  1689.  Six  days  later 
he  says  he  arrived  at  Fort  Crfevecoeur,  where  he  met  with 
Monsieur  de  Tonty,  who  received  him  with  all  imaginable 
civility.^"  But  Fort  Crevecoeur  had  been  abandoned  and 
burned  seven  years  before,  and  Tonty  at  this  time  was 
far  away  in  the  southwest  journeying  towards  the  gulf. 
La  Hontan  goes  on  to  recount  that  he  arrived  April  20th 
at  the  village  of  the  Illinois,  engaged  four  hundred  men 
to  transport  his  baggage,  and  on  the  24th  reached  "Chek- 
akou, ' '  which  place  he  left  the  next  day  for  the  river  St. 
Joseph.^**  The  falsity  of  his  preceding  statements  pre- 
vents our  giving  full  credence  to  these.  The  fact, 
furthermore,  that  his  map  places  Fort  Crevecoeur  upon 
the  wrong  side  of  the  Illinois  River,  and  entirely  omits 
the  Des  Plaines  and  Chicago  rivers,  which  he  must  have 
traversed  to  make  such  a  journey,  makes  his  story  still 
more  doubtful.     The  probability  is  that  this  part  of  his 


I90     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

book  was  carelessly  made  up  from  the  accounts  or  writ- 
ings of  others,  and  that  Baron  La  Hontan  should  not  be 
included  among  the  early  visitors  to  the  land  of  the 
Illinois."" 

Fortunately  we  have  more  reliable  accounts  of  matters 
concerning  the  land  of  the  Illinois  during  this  period. 
The  relations  of  La  Salle's  colony  at  Fort  St.  Louis  with 
the  government  of  Canada  were  not  altogether  pleasant 
under  the  administration  of  Denonville.  Soon  after  he 
took  his  seat  in  1685  he  complained  to  the  Minister  that 
Tonty  would  not  permit  the  French  to  trade  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Illinois,  and  asked  if  the  King  had  granted  the 
whole  of  that  country  to  Sieur  de  La  Salle.  Seignelay 
replied  with  some  asperity  that  this  was  a  ridiculous  pre- 
tence on  Tonty's  part,  and  he  should  write  him  sharply 
on  the  subject,  as  it  was  the  King's  intention  to  preserve 
to  the  French  the  liberty  of  going  to  the  Illinois  to  trade."* 
The  preparations  for  the  Iroquois  war  seem  to  have  pre- 
vented any  action  in  this  regard,  but  after  peace  was 
declared,  Denonville  returned  to  the  charge,  and  in  his 
letter  of  August  25,  1687,  complained  that  La  Salle  had 
made  grants  at  Fort  St.  Louis  to  a  number  of  Frenchmen 
who  had  resided  there  several  years  without  desiring  to 
return,  that  they  were  all  young  men,  who  had  intermar- 
ried among  the  Indians,  and  pretended  to  be  independent 
and  masters  of  those  lands,  and  had  even  planned  to  join 
the  English.  The  Governor  recommended  that  all  those 
distant  grants  should  be  revoked  by  the  King,  the  garri- 
sons to  such  posts  changed  every  two  years,  and  better 
discipline  introduced  under  commandants  having  more 
authority."*  The  King  replied  from  Versailles,  March  8, 
1688,  that  the  concessions  made  by  La  Salle  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Fort  St.  Louis,  since  they  caused  such 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  191 

disorders,  might  be  revoked,  and  such  power  g^ven  to  the 
commanders  of  fortified  posts  as  might  be  needed."*  A 
certain  jealousy  of  La  Salle,  perhaps  because  of  the  royal 
favor  he  had  won,  seems  to  be  evinced  by  the  Canadian 
ofiBcial  in  this  correspondence,  and  Tonty  falls  under  his 
censure,  chiefly  by  reason  of  his  loyal  devotion  to  his 
absent  leader's  interests.  Denonville  apparently  took  no 
further  action  in  this  matter,  possibly  in  consequence  of 
the  border  troubles  with  the  colonists  of  New  England, 
which  soon  engprossed  his  attention.  His  term  of  office, 
moreover,  was  drawing  to  a  close,  as  a  firmer  hand  was 
needed  at  the  helm.  The  King  could  find  none  so  fit  as 
that  of  the  bold  soldier  who  had  once  ruled  the  destinies 
of  New  France.  Although  now  in  his  seventieth  year, 
he  accepted  his  old  position  at  his  sovereign's  request, 
and  on  October  15,  1689,  Denonville  was  relieved  by 
Count  Frontenac,  who  proudly  resumed  his  former  duties, 
amid  the  acclamations  of  the  people  of  Quebec.*" 


NOTES 


I.    DISCOVERY 

'Carte  de  la  Nouvelle  France.  "Champlain's  Voyages"  (Prince 
Society  Publications),  cited  as  "Champlain's  Voyages,"  vol.  i,  p.  305. 

■'"La  Salle,  and  the  Discovery  of  the  Great  West,"  by  Francis 
Parkman,  eleventh  edition,  p.  450,  cited  as  "Parkman's  La  Salle." 

^"Discovery  of  the  North  West,  by  John  Nicolet"  (C.  W.  Butter- 
field),  cited  as  "Discovery  of  the  North  West,"  p.  70.  n.  2.  "Relation 
de  Henri  de  Tonty"  (1684),  Margry,  i,  p.  582,  "(Le  Pays  des  Illinois) 
est  ou  Ton  trouve  les  premiers  boeufs  sauvages."  This  Relation, 
cited  as  "Tonty,"  1684,  is  printed  in  "D6couvertes  et  Etablissements 
des  Frangais  dans  I'ouest  et  dans  le  sud  de  I'Am^rique  Septentrio- 
nale,"  1614-1698,  par  Pierre  Margry,  Paris,  Maissonneuve,"  cited  as 
' '  Margry. ' ' 

*Champlain  to  the  Queen  Regent  "Champlain's  Voyages,"  ii, 
p.  xiii. 

^  Ibid.,  iii,  p.  158. 

^ Ibid.,  iii,  p.  159. 

''Ibid.,  iii,  p.  215,  note.  "Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi Valley,"  cited  as  Shea's  "Mississippi,"  p.  xx.  "Discovery 
of  the  North  West,"  pp.  40seq.  "Relations  des  J6suites,"  ii.  I'Ann^e 
1643,  p.  3,  Quebec  Edition,  1858,  cited  as  "Relations  des  J6suites." 

*  For  argument  to  show  that  Nicolet's  visit  to  the  Wisconsin  country 
was  in  1638,  see  "Wisconsin  under  French  Dominion"  (S.  S.  Heb- 
berd),  p.  14,  note  a. 

'  "Relations  des  J6suites,  i,  l'Ann6e  1640,  p.  35. 

'""Discovery  of  the  North  West,"  p.  70. 

"  "Relations  des  J6suites,  iii,  I'Ann^e  1656,  pp.  38,  39. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  39. 

"^^  Ibid.,  iii.  Table  Alphab6tique,  p.  17. 

^*  Ibid.,  iii,  I'Ann^e  1658,  p.  21. 

"  "Relations  des  Jesuites,"  iii,  I'Annee  1660,  p.  12. 

"  "Wisconsin  under  French  Dominion,"  p.  22. 

"Radisson's  "Voyages"  (Prince  Soc.  Pub.),  Preface. 

^^  Ibid.,  p.  167.    "Wisconsin  under  French  Dominion,"  p.  20. 

192 


NOTES  193 

»9  "Relations  des  J6saites,"  iii,  rAnn6e  1667,  p.  12;  p.  21 

'''^  Ibid.,  pp.  21,  22. 

«i  Cf.  Projets  d'extension  sous  Jean  Talon,  Margry,  i,  pp.  75  seq. 

22  Margry,  i,  96.     Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  ch.  iv. 

2=*  "Proces  Verbal,"  Margry,  i,  p.  97. 

2*  Ibid.,  i,  p.  99. 

25  "Relation  of  Father  Dablon,"  August  i,  1674.     "Historical  Mag-- 
azine,"  v,  p.  237. 

26  "Dictionaire  G6n6alogique"  (Tang^ay),  v,  p.  14. 
s' Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  p.  48. 

28  Letter  of  Archbishop  Tache,  Chicago  Historical  Society  MSS. 
"Discovery  of  the  North  West,"  p.  96.  Parkman's  "La  Salle," 
pp.  48,  49.  "Journal  des  Jesuites."  "Shea's  Mississippi,"  Ixxix. 
Kingsford's  "Canada,"  i,  p.  400. 

29  Association  de  Jolliet  et  al  pour  les  Otahak.  Chicago  Hist  Soc. 
MSS. 

^  The  RecoUet  friars,  Ribourde,  Hennepin  and  Membre,  who  accom- 
panied La  Salle  in  Le  Griffon  in  1679,  named  the  body  of  water 
between  lakes  Erie  and  Huron  Lake  Sainte  Claire,  of  which  the 
present  name,  Saint  Clair,  is  a  corruption.  Margry,  i,  p.  445. 
Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  p.  139,  note  i. 

3' Lettre  du  Sieur  Patoulet  ^Colbert,  Margry,  i,  p.  81.  Relation 
de  rAbb6  Galin^e,  Margry,  i,  pp.  143,  144.  Parkman's  "La  Salle," 
p.  16.     Kingsford's  "Canada,"  i,  p.  400. 

22  "Relation  de  I'Abb^  Galinee,"  pp.  144-146. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  166. 

^  Dablon,  1674.     Margry,  i,  p.  99. 

's  Shea's  "Mississippi,"  p.  5. 

^  Dablon,  1674. 

3'  Lettre  de  Frontenac  a  Colbert,  2  Nov.,  1672,  Margry,  i,  p.  255. 

*»  Dablon,  1678  in  Shea's  "Mississippi,"  p.  5. 

"  Lettre  de  Frontenac,  supra,  et  lettre  de  Frontenac  k  Colbert, 
Margry,  i,  p.  257. 

*°  Kingsford's  "Canada,"  i,  p.  393. 

"  Shea's  "Mississippi,"  pp.  5,  6. 

*2  Ibid.,  p.  5,  note. 

♦3  Dablon,  1674,  supra. 

**  It  is  related  that  to  distinguish  these  armorial  bearing^  from  those 
of  the  city  and  from  each  other,  the  Provost  was  given  three  martlets 
without  claws  and  with  a  beak,  and  the  Alderman  three  with  claws, 
but  without  a  beak ;  and  the  latter  insignia  were  formally  confirmed 
to  the  family  of  Marquette,  as  its  coat  of  arms,  by  the  French  official 
genealogists  three  hundred  years  after  the  original  grant  ("Devisme, 


194     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

Histoire  de  la  Ville  de  Laon,"  i,  p.  391).  The  martlets  (tnerleites, 
in  French)  were  always  considered  the  apanage  of  such  genteel  fam- 
ilies as  had  taken  part  in  the  Crusades,  like  crosses  or  escallops  (pil- 
grims' shells).  It  is  traditional  that  these  little  birds,  which  are  a 
sort  of  small  swallow,  were  found  in  large  quantities  by  some  almost 
famished  Crusaders,  who  were  thus  saved  from  actual  starvation. 
In  a  spirit  of  gratitude  many  of  these  warriors  placed  the  representa- 
tion of  these  birds  in  their  coats  of  arms  (Letter  of  Cte.  E.  de  Val- 
court- Vermont,  author  of  "America  Heraldica"). 

«  "Devisme  Histoire,"  supra,  i,  p.  391;  ii,  pp.  23,  83,  356-358. 

*®  Shea's  "Mississippi,"  Life  of  Father  Marquette,  p.  xlii. 

*^  "Devisme  Histoire,"  ii,  p.  356. 

^  Ibid.,  ii,  pp.  130,  177,  356,  358. 

♦'Shea's  "Mississippi,"  Life  of  Father  Marquette,  xliii. 

^Letter  of  Archbishop  Tache,  Feb.  20,  1883,  Chicago  Historical 
Society  MSS.  Shea's  "Marquette,"  supra,  xlvi,  seq.  Kingsford's 
"Canada,"  i,  p.  400.     "Relations  des  J6suites,"  1670,  p.  87. 

*•  Ibtd. ,  p.  90. 

^"^  Ibid.,  p.  91. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  91. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  9a. 

**  Shea's  "Mississippi,  Life  of  Father  Marquette,"  pp.  Iviii,  Ixi. 

**  Ibid.,  Narrative  of  Father  Marquette,  Section  i,  p.  6. 

"  Ibid,  pp.  7,  8. 

M  Ibid. 

^»This  positive  statement  of  Marquette,  whose  attention  had  for 
years  been  directed  to  the  subject,  as  to  the  extent  of  French  explora- 
tions in  this  direction,  seems  to  show  conclusively  that  Nicolet  did 
not  reach  the  Illinois  country  proper,  and  also  that  the  assertion  that 
two  priests  had  reached  that  region  before  the  journey  of  JoUiet  and 
Marquette,  is  entirely  without  foundation.  (See  Parkman"s  "La 
Salle,"  p.  72,  n.) 

*>  Shea's  "Mississippi,"  Narrative  of  Father  Marquette,  p.  20. 

"  Ibid.,  pp.  21  seq.     See  Appendix  A. 

*2  Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  pp.  59,  431. 

•«  Narrative  of  Father  Marquette,  Shea's  "Mississippi,"  p.  41. 

"♦Beck's  "Gazeteer  of  Illinois  and  Missouri,"  p.  72.  Reynolds' 
"Pioneer  History  of  Illinois,"  p.  138. 

•5  Narrative  of  Father  Marquette,  Shea's  "Mississippi,"  p.  51- 

86  Unfinished  letter  :of ,  Father  Marquette,  Shea's  "Mississippi," 
p.  258. 

"Shea's  "Discovery,"  etc.,  p.  xxxii. 

«  N.  &  C.  History  America,  iv,  p.  179,  n. 


NOTES  195 

*^  Extracts  from  Memoir  of  Frontenac  to  Colbert,  Quebec,  Nov.  11, 
1674,  translated  in  N.  Y.  Colonial  Documents,  ix,  p.  121 ;  part  of 
original  text  in  Shea's  "Mississippi,"  xxxiii,  and  Margry,  i,  p.  257. 
The  original  is  in  the  Archives  du  Ministere  de  la  Marine,  at 
Paris. 

™  Relation  of  Dablon,  Aug.  i,  1674  (Hist.  Mag.,  v,  p.  238).  Details 
sur  le  Voyage  de  Louis  Jolliet  (Margry,  i,  pp.  259  seq.),  in  Biblio- 
theque  Nationale,  at  Paris ;  Relation  de  la  Descouverte  de  plusieurs 
Pays  situes  au  Midi  de  la  Nouvelle  France,  faite  en  1673  (Margry,  i, 
pp.  262,  263,  268-270),  in  Depot  des  Cartes,  Plans  et  Journaux  de  la 
Marine,  at  Paris.  These  are  based  upon  oral  accounts  given  by  Jol- 
liet. See  also  JoUiet's  Letter  from  Quebec,  Oct.  10,  1674  (Harrisse 
Notes,  p.  322),  in  the  Archives  of  the  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice  at  Paris, 
and  his  letter  to  Frontenac,  appended  to  Jolliet's  smaller  map  (Mag- 
azine American  History,  1883;  same  published  separately  in  GriflBn's 
"Discovery  of  the  Mississippi,"  and  N.  &  C.  History  of  America,  iv^, 
pp.  208,  210). 

^'  Memoir  of  Frontenac,  supra. 

"  Jolliet's  letter  to  Frontenac,  supra. 

''  Jolliet's  letter  of  Oct.  10,  1674,  and  letter  to  Frontenac,  supra. 

"Unfinished  letter  of  Father  Marquette,  Shea's  "Mississippi,"^ 
p.  258. 

^"N.  &  C.  History  of  America,  iv,  p.  217.  Historical  Magazine,  v, 
P-  237. 

T«  Thevenot  also  published  it  as  an  independent  work,  entitled  "Voy- 
age et  D6couverte  de  quelques  Pays  et  Nations  de  I'Amerique  Sep- 
tentrionale."  In  the  latter  form  it  was  reproduced  by  Rich  at  Paris 
in  1845  (Griffin's  "Discovery  of  the  Mississippi,"  p.  5). 

"N.  &  C.  History  of  America,  iv,  pp.  219-220.  The  return  route  of 
the  explorers  is  incorrectly  laid  down  on  this  map,  probably  from  the 
endeavor  of  the  editor  to  make  them  again  meet  the  Peorias  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  where  they  saw  them  on  their  south- 
ward journey.  He  was  not  aware  of  the  custom  of  these  Indians  to 
go  in  a  body  to  hunt,  and  that  thus  they  might  easily  have  been  found 
on  the  Illinois  River  (Shea's  "Missi.«sippi,"  Ixxv). 

'8  Shea's  "Mississippi,"  pp.  Ixxvii,  Ixviii.  Griffin's  "Mississippi," 
p.  5.  N.  &  C.  Hist.  America,  iv,  pp.  217,  219,  220,  315.  The  Ste. 
Marie  text  was  reprinted  for  Mr.  Lenox  in  1855,  with  important 
annotations  by  Shea,  under  the  title  "Recit  des  Voyages  et  des 
D6couvertes  de  R.  P.  J.  Marquette,"  etc.  Shea  says:  "The  narrative 
is  a  very  small  quarto,  written  in  a  very  clear  hand,  with  occasional 
corrections,  comprising  in  all  sixty  pages.  Of  these  thirty-seven  con- 
tain his  voyage  down  the  Mississippi,  which  is  complete,  except  a_ 


196     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

hiatus  of  one  leaf  in  the  chapter  on  the  calumet ;  the  rest  are  taken  up 
with  the  account  of  his  second  voyage,  death  and  burial,  and  the 
voyage  of  Father  Allouez.  The  last  nine  lines  on  page  60  are  in  the 
handwriting  of  Father  Dablon,  and  were  written  as  late  as  1678." 
(Shea,  supra.)  The  missing  leaf  was  supplied  from  the  print  of 
Thevenot.     (N.  &  C.  Hist.,  supra.) 

'*  Extracts  from  Memoir  of  Frontenac,  supra. 

*®  JoUiet's  letter  of  Oct.  10   1674,  supra. 

*'  Margry,  supra. 

*2  Ibid,  i,  p.  270. 

*^  Griffin,  supra. 

s«N.  &.  C.  Hist,  iv,  p.  210. 

"*  Ibid.,  pp.  211-216.     Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  pp.  452,  453, 

*®  It  is  stated  that  Marquette  also  kept  a  copy  of  the  lost  report  or 
journal  of  Jolliet  (Dablon  Relation,  Aug.  i,  1674;  Hist.  Soc,  v,  p. 
238;  Margry,  i,  p.  262),  but  these  reports  probably  refer  to  Mar- 
quette's own  narrative. 

"  Unfinished  letter  of  Father  Marquette,  Shea's  "Mississippi," 
p.  258. 

**  Dablon's  Narrative  of  Marquette's  Second  Voyage,  Ibid.,  p.  53. 

^  Proces  Verbal,  Margry,  i,  p.  99. 

""N.  Y.  Colonial  Documents,  pp.  132,  804.  Parkman's  "La  Salle," 
p.  68,  n.     Dictionnaire  G6n6alogique,  i,  p.  442. 

*' Unfinished  letter  of  Father  Marquette,  Shea's  "Mississippi,"  pp. 
258-264. 

"  It  has  been  claimed  that  Marquette  made  this  journey  by  the  Des 
Plaines  and  Chicago  Rivers,  and  around  the  southern  end  of  Lake 
Michigan,  but  this  is  not  supported  by  the  only  contemporary  author- 
ity, the  Narrative  of  Marquette's  Second  Voyage,  by  Father  Claude 
Dablon.  He  says:  "The  Illinois  Indians  escorted  Marquette  more 
than  thirty  leagues  on  the  way,  and  after  they  had  taken  leave  of  him 
he  continued  his  voyage  and  soon  after  reached  the  Illinois  Lake. " 
A  little  more  than  thirty  French  leagues  by  the  Des  Plaines  and  Chi- 
cago would  have  brought  the  party  to  the  lake,  and  Dablon  would 
then  have  stated  that  they  parted  there.  But  his  language  plainly 
implies  a  longer  river  journey  than  by  the  Des  Plaines.  Again,  he 
says  that  after  Marquette  reached  the  lake  he  had  nearly  a  hundred 
leagues  to  make  by  an  unknown  route,  because  he  was  obliged  to  take 
the  southern  (meaning  the  eastern)  side  of  the  lake,  having  gone 
thither  by  the  northern  (meaning  the  western).  We  know  that  Mar- 
quette went  to  the  Illinois  country  by  the  Chicago  and  Des  Plaines 
Rivers.  Had  he  returned  by  the  same  route  to  the  lake  and  then  fol- 
lowed its  southern  curve,  Dablon  would  hardly  have  spoken  of  it  as 


NOTES 


197 


utterly  unknown,  but  rather  as  a  divergence  from  the  route  which 
Marquette  had  followed  to  the  Indian  village.  And  although  he  had 
not  traveled  on  the  lake  south  of  the  mouth  of  the  Chicago  River,  yet 
he  had  visited  that  point  twice,  and  from  it  a  part  of  this  route  was  in 
sight  at  least.  Moreover  Dablon  says  the  return  route  was  on  another 
side  of  the  lake  from  that  used  in  going.  But  if  Marquette  went  south 
from  the  Chicago  River,  a  large  part  of  the  journey  on  the  lake  would 
have  been  on  the  same  side  as  his  journey  to  the  Illinois,  and  would 
have  been  so  described.  A  still  more  conclusive  argument  is  derived 
from  Dablon's  statement  that  Marquette  had  nearly  a  hundred 
leagfues  to  make  on  Lake  Michigan.  This  fairly  represents  the 
distance  from  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph  to  St.  Ignace,  but  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Chicago  to  St.  Ignace  would  have  been  forty 
leagues  more,  and  Dablon  could  not  have  described  the  whole  lake 
trip  as  nearly  one  hundred  leagues  when  it  would  have  been  much 
more  than  this. 

^^  Dablon's  Narrative  of  Marquette's  Second  Voyage,  supra,  pp. 
55  seq. 

*•  Shea's  Mississippi,"  Ixxi,  p.  63. 

8*  The  river  where  Marquette  died  is  a  small  stream  in  the  west  of 
Michigan,  some  distance  south  of  the  promontory  called  the  "Sleeping 
Bear."  It  was  long  called  by  his  name,  which  is  now  borne  by  a 
neighboring  stream  (Parkman's  "La  Salle,",  p.  71,  n. ;  Shea's  "Mis- 
sissippi," p.  58,  n.).  An  interesting  account  of  the  probable  discov- 
ery of  Father  Marquette's  remains  in  1877  will  be  found  in 
"Missionary  Labors  of  Father  Marquette,  Menard  and  Allouez," 
etc.,  p.  136. 

^  Dictionnaire  G6n6alogique,  i,  p.  324.  Archbishop  Tach6*s  letter, 
Chi.  Hist.  Soc.  MSS. 

8^  Ibid. 

"^  Lettre  du  Comte  de  Frontenac  k  Colbert,  1677.  Margry  i,  p.  324. 
Lettre  de  Colbert  a  M.  Du  Chesneau,  28  Avril,  1677.  Margry,  i, 
P-  329. 

^  Margry,  i,  pp.  405-406-418. 

•w  Parkman's '  'La  Salle, "  p.  66,  note.  Contract  du  vendu  par  susses- 
sion  de  d6funt  M.  Bissot,  19  Avril,  1680.  C.  H.  S.  MSS.  Dictionnaire 
G6neaIogique,  i,  pp.  56,  324,  v.  p.  14. 

'<"  Parkman's  "La  Salle,  "p.  49,  note;  p.  66,  note.  Dictionnaire  Gen- 
ealogique,  i,  p.  324,  v.  14.     Shea's  "Mississippi,"  Ixxx. 

102  Dictionnaire  Gen^alogique,  i,  p.  324. 

103  Narrative  of  Father  Marquette,  Shea's  "Mississippi,"  p.  14.  Fron- 
tenac's  letters,  Margry,  i,  pp.  255,  257.  Dablon  in  Shea's  Missis- 
sippi, pp.  4,  5.     Dictionnaire  Genealog^que. 


198     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

*<**  For  the  views  of  modern  writers  as  to  Jolliet's  leadership  of  the 
Mississippi  expedition,  see  "Narrative  and  Critical  History  of 
America,"  iv,  pp.  178,  179,  180,209.  Cartier  to  Frontenac,  p.  236. 
Parkman's  "La  Salle"  (eleventh  edition),  pp.  47,  48,  49,  53,  66. 
Shea's  "Mississippi,"  xxvii,  xxviii,  Ixxx,  p.  5 ;  p.  5,  note. 

II.     EXPLORATION 

*  Dablon's  Narrative,  Shea's  "Mississippi,"  pp.  53,  56. 

^  Jesuit  Relations,  1670,  p.  87,     Shea's  "Mississippi,"  p.  69,  n. 
*Margry,  i,  p.  59. 

*^ Ibid.,  i,  pp.  59.  60.     Kingsford's  "Canada,"  i,  pp.  240,  245. 
5  Shea's  "Mississippi,"  Allouez,  p.  68,  n. ;  Jesuit  Relations.  1664^ 
pp.  28,  29. 

*  Jesuit  Relations,  1665,  pp.  8-9.     1667,  p.  4. 
"^ Ibid.,  1 666,  p.  3. 

^  Ibid.,  1667,  pp.  4,  5,  7,  8,  9,  13,  25. 

"*  Ibid.,  p.  26. 

"Shea's  "Mississippi,"  Allouez,  p.  69,  n. 

"  Jesuit  Relations,  1669,  p.  17. 

"  Ibid.,  1670,  pp.  87,  92,  94,  96,  97,  100.  "Missionary  Labors  of  Mar- 
quette," etc.,  p.  178.     "Historic  Green  Bay,"  p.  162. 

^' Jesuit  Relations,  1671,  pp.  42-44. 

"R.  G.  Thwaites'  "Historic  Waterways,"  p.  175.  "Missionary 
Labors  of  Marquette,"  etc.,  p.  179. 

'*  Margry,  i,  p.  98. 

"Jesuit  Relations,  1671,  pp.  27-28. 

^"^ Ibid.,  1672,  p.  42. 

"Shea's  "Mississippi,"  Allouez,  p.  69,  n. 

"  Ibid.,  pp.  70-73. 

20  Margry,  ii,  p.  175. 

21  Shea's  "Mississippi,"  Allouez,  pp.  74-77. 

"^  Ibid.,  p.  69,  n. ;  p.  77.  Margry,  ii,  pp.  34,  41.  Parkman's  "La 
Salle,"  p.  222,  n. 

23"Cavelier  de  La  Salle  de  Rouen,"  Gravier,  p.  11.  Parkman's 
"La  Salle,"  p.  i.  Margry,  i,  Introduction,  xxix,  p.  346.  Kingsford's 
"Canada,"  i,  p.  376. 

2*  Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  p.  i,  n.  Kingsford's  "Canada,"  supra. 
"CavelieF  de  La  Salle  de  Rouen,"  pp.  11-12. 

2®"Les  Anciens  Forts  de  Lachine,"  D.  Girouard,  pp.  11  and  12. 
Margery,  i,  p.  280.  "Lac  St.  Louis,"  D.  Girouard,  pp.  10,  11,  12. 
Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  p.  i,  n. 

*  Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  p.  4.     Gravier's  "La  Salle,"  p.  14.    Mar- 


NOTES  199 

gO'>  ^'  P-  33°-  "^®  Vieux  Lachine,"  Girouard,  pp.  13-17,  116. 
Abb6  De  Galin6e,  Margry,  i,  p.  114-116. 

2'  Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  pp.  21-27.  "Memoire  par  Nicholas  Per- 
rot,"  pp.  119-122.  Shea's  "Bursting  of  Pierre  Margry's  La  Salle 
Bubble,"  pp.  I,  9. 

^  Margry,  i,  pp.  330-331. 

'^ Ibid.,  i,  pp.  227-288, 

^ Ibid.,  i,  pp.  292,  437. 

*i  Ibid.,  ii,  pp.  75,  259. 

^ Ibid.,  i,  pp.  439,  337. 

*3"Les  Tonty,"  B.  Suite,  pp.  3-5.  Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  p.  115. 
"Memoire  de  Henri  de  Tonty  envoye  en  1693,  Relations  et 
Memoires  In^dits  par  Pierre  Margry"  (cited  as  "Tonty,"  1693),  p. 
5.  This  Memoir  is  translated  in  "Historical  Collections  of 
Louisiana,"  by  B.  F.  French  (cited  as  French's  "La."),  vol.  i,  pp. 
52-78. 

^  Margry,  ii,  pp.  75-76. 

^  Relation  Officielle,  Margrj',  i,  pp.  440-445 ;  Tonty's  Relation, 
Ibid.,  pp.  571  seq. ;  Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  ch.  viii. 

^ Ibid.,  pp.  448-451.     "Tonty,"  1684;  Ibid.,  p.  579. 

""  Relation  Officielle,  Margery,  i,  pp.  451-455. 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  456-459. 

^ /i^/Vf.,  pp.  459-461 ;  cf.  Tonty's  Relation,  Ibid.,  pp.  580  seq.  and 
Shea's  Hennepin's  Louisiana,  pp.  129  seq. 

^  Le  Clercq  says  La  Salle  left  four  men  at  Fort  Miami  (Shea's 
"Establishment  of  the  Faith,"  ii,  p.  117),  and  this  statement  has 
been  followed  by  a  recent  writer  ("Cartier  to  Frontenac,"  p.  264). 
But  it  seems  hardly  credible — Le  Clercq  was  not  a  member  of  the 
party,  and  is  inaccurate  especially  as  to  numbers  (see  his  statements 
as  to  La  Salle's  party  leaving  Green  Bay,  "Establishment  of  the 
Faith,"  ii,  pp.  116- 11 7).  Hennepin,  who  was  of  the  party,  does  not 
mention  any  men  remaining  at  the  fort,  but  says  they  left  letters 
there  hanging  from  the  trees,  which  certainly  they  would  not  have 
done  had  any  one  stayed  at  that  place.  The  Relation  Officielle 
makes  the  same  statement  (see  Shea's  "Hennepin's  Louisiana,"  pp. 
135  /?/  se^.,  and  Hennepin's  "New  Discovery,"  London,  1698,  pp.  108 
and  HI ;  also  Marg^,  i,  p.  463). 

"  Relation  Officielle,  Margry,  pp.  461-463.  Tonty,  1684,  Ibid.,  p.  581, 

*^  Relation  Officielle,  Margry,  i,  pp.  463-464.  "Hennepin's  Louisi- 
ana," Shea  (cited  as  "Hennepin  La."),  pp.  142,  152.  Tonty,  1684. 
Margery,  i,  p.  582. 

*»  Margry,  ii,  pp.  174,  175,  41,99-101. 

**  La  Salle  says  they  arrived  January  ist  (Margry,  ii,  p.  36),  so  also 


200     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

the  Relation  Officielle  (Margry,  i,  p.  466),  but  Tonty  (Margry,  i,  p. 
582),  Hennepin  ("New  Discovery,"  1698  ed.,  p.  113;  "La."  p.  152), 
and  Le  Clercq  (Shea,  ii,  pp.  11 7-1 18),  all  make  the  arrival  the  latter 
part  of  December  or  the  last  day,  which  seems  more  probable. 

*^  "Hennepin  La.,"  Shea,  p.  153. 

*^  Relation  Officielle,  Margry,  i,  pp.  467-468.  La  Salle  a  Thouret, 
Margry,  ii,  p.  36.  A  minot  contains  39  litres;  a  bushel,  36  and  a 
fraction  litres. 

"  Ibid.,Y^.  467-468.  "Le  Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  p.  118.  "Hennepin 
La."  154-156.  Hennepin  "N.  D.",  pp.  121,  122.  La  Salle  a  Thouret, 
Margry,  ii,  p.  38. 

*8  Hennepin  "N.  D.,"pp.  132,  123,124.  "Hennepin  La. "  pp.  157- 
160.     Margry,  i,  p.  468 ;  ii,  pp.  38-39. 

♦* Margry,  i,  pp.  468-470;  ii,  pp.  39-40.  "Hennepin  La.,"  pp.  159, 
161-162. 

*> Margry,  i,  pp.  470-471;  ii,  p.  100.  "Hennepin  La.,"  p.  165. 
"Cartier  to  Frontenac,"  pp.  265,  266. 

*'  This  head  chief,  who  was  then  absent,  is  called  in  different 
accounts  Chassagoac  and  Chassagouasse. 

52  Margry,  i,  pp.  471-473;  ii,  p.  43.  "Hennepin  La.,"  pp.  166-169; 
"N.  D.,"  p.  126. 

"»  Margry,  i,  p.  473. 

^  Ibid.,  i,  p.  474;  ii,  p.  100. 

^Relation  Officielle,  Margry,  i,  p.  471.    "Hennepin  La.,"  p.  155. 

5*  Margry,  ii,  p.  46. 

'^^  Tonty,  1684,  Margry,  i,  p.  583.     Tonty,  1693,  French's  "La.,"  i, 

P-  54. 

58  Moyse  Hillaret,  Margry,  ii,  p.  108. 

59  Tonty,  1684,  Margry,  i,  p.  581. 
®*'  Margry,  i,  p.  449. 

*'  Ibid.,  ii,  pp.  46-47. 

^"^  Ibid.,  i,  pp.  475,  476. 

*3  The  exact  location  of  Fort  Crevecoeur  has  been  a  matter  of  con- 
troversy. The  early  authorities  are  Relation  Officielle,  Margry,  i, 
pp.  467,  476,  488;  Lettre  de  La  Salle,  Margry,  ii,  p.  247;  "Hennepin, 
La.,"  pp.  175  n,  187;  Hennepin  "N.  D.,"  p.  142;  and  Franquelin's  Map, 
1684.  (Parkman's"LaSalle,  p.  294;  "Cartier  to  Frontenac,"  pp.  308. 
344.)  A  local  antiquarian  has  held  the  place  to  be  a  projection  of  the 
bluff  directly  back  of  the  village  of  Wesley  City,  three  miles  below 
Peoria  ("  Fort  Crevecoeur, "  by  J.  Gale,  Peoria  Journal,  Jan.  11,  1890). 
Parkman  at  first  adopted  a  similar  view,  saying  in  his  "Discovery  of 
the  Great  West,"  p.  168,  ninth  edition,  "The  spot  may  still  be  seen  a 
little  below  Peoria" ;  but  he  omits  this  sentence  in  his  last  edition  of 


NOTES  20I 

the  same  work.  Others  think  it  stood  in  Fond  du  Lac  township  in 
Tazewell  County  above  Peoria  and  a  mile  and  a  half  below  the 
narrows  of  Peoria  Lake  (Chicago  Tribune,  Nov.  i6,  1889);  but  a 
very  competent  authority  fixes  the  site  farther  to  the  north,  and 
identifies  it  with  a  mound  a  little  below  Spring  Bay  in  Woodford 
County  (Hiram  W.  Beckwith  in  the  "Land  of  the  lUini,"  Chicago 
Tribune,  Feb.  24,  1895).     This  is  probably  the  correct  location. 

"  Margry  i,  pp.  476-477 ;  ii,  pp.  48-49.  "Hennepin  La.,"  pp.  176-177, 
187.     "Le  Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  p.  130.     Hennepin  "N.  D.,"  p.  142. 

«5  "Le  Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  p.  123.     Hennepin  "N.  D.,"  p.  136. 

«* "Hennepin  La.,"  pp.  179.  180,  186.  Margry,  i,  p.  583.  French's 
"La.,"  i,  p.  54-     Margry,  ii,  pp.  31,  32,  49,  95. 

*' Shea's  notes  to  "Le  Clercq,  ii,  p.  123,  and  "Hennepin  La.,"  p. 
175.     See  "Cartierto  Frontenac,"  p.  266. 

68Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  p.  168. 

*9"Le  Clercq,"  ii,  p.  123.  "Hennepin  La.,"  p.  188.  Margry,  ii, 
pp.  49-50,  103. 

TO  Margery,  ii,  pp.  49-53' 

^^Ibid.,  p.  54- 

"^"^  Ibid.,  p.  54.  The  Matoutentas  were  a  Mandan  tribe.  "Lewis 
and  Clark's  Expedition,"  Coues,  i,  p.  182.  The  Chaa,  an  Algonquin 
name  for  the  Sioux  ("Hennepin  La.,"  p.  189,  n.). 

'3  Membr6  in  "Le  Clercq,"  ii.  pp.  133-140.  "Le  Clercq,"  ii,  p.  123. 
"Hennepin  La.,"  p.  140-143,  186,  258;  "N.  D.,"  p.  141.  "Relations 
des  J6suites,"  1671,  pp.  25,  45.  "Relations  Inedites,"  i,  pp.  133,  138. 
Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  p.  207,  n. 

^*  "Hennepin  La.,"  p.  186-187;  "N.  D.,"  pp.  136,  142.  "Le  Clercq," 
Shea,  ii,  p.  130. 

'* Hennepin  "N.  D.,"  p.  141. 

"^^  Ibid.,  p.  144.     Margry,  ii,  p.  54. 

"Margry,  i,  p.  478;  ii,  p.  246.  "Hennepin  La,,"  pp.  361-362,  371 
Margry,  ii,  p.  55. 

'8  Margry,  i,  pp.  477*478;  ii,  pp.  54-55- 

™  "Hennepin  La.,"  pp.  187-188,  189;  "N.  D.,"  pp.  142-143 

80 "Hennepin  La.,"  pp.  189-192;  "N.  D.,"  pp.  143-144. 

""Hennepin  La.,"  pp.  192-193;  "N.  D.,"  1698,  pp.  145-146-147. 
.Margry,  i,  pp.  478-479- 

82  Margry,  i,  pp.  478-479. 

^^  Ibid.,  ii,  p.  248.     "Hennepin  La.,"  p.  363. 

8*"Hennepin  La.,"  pp.  195-199;  "N.  D.,"  1698,  p.  148.    ' 

»*  Margry,  i,  p.  488;  ii,  p.  109. 

«•  Lettre  de  La  Salle  k  Thouret,  Margry,  ii,  pp.  51,  55,  56.  Relation 
Officielle,  Margry,  i,  pp.  488-490. 


202     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

s'  "Hennepin  La.,"  p.  i66.     Shea's  "Mississippi,"  p.  259. 

**Margry,  i,  pp.  488-490.  Marquette's  Last  Journal,  Shea's  "Mis- 
sissippi," p.  259. 

*^  Margry,  i,  p.  491 ;  ii,  pp.  57-58. 

'♦'Margry,  i,  pp.  491-492;  ii,  pp.  58-59. 

"1  Margfry,  i,  p.  492 ;  ii,  p.  59. 

^Margry.  ii,  p.  59.  Tonty,  1693,  French's  "La.,"  p.  55.  Margry, 
ii,  p.  88. 

"'  Margry,  i,  pp.  492-496 ;  ii,  pp.  59-64. 
♦  Margjy,  i,  pp.  496-503 ;  ii,  pp.  64-65,  69-73,  103-108. 

^  Margry,  ii,  pp.  73-74,  76. 

'^  Chicago  Tribune,  January  24,  1883. 

«7  Margry,  i,  pp.  501-502,  513-514;  ii,  p.  125. 

«8  Margry,  i,  pp.  514-515;  ii,  p.  127. 

^Margry,  i,  pp.  515-516;  ii,  pp.  127-128. 

""Margry,  i,  pp.  516-518;  ii,  pp.  128-130. 

">•  Margry,  i,  p.  520;  ii,  pp.  131-133. 

'02  Margry,  ii,  p.  134.     Le  Clercq,  ii,  pp.  154,  155. 

"•3  Margry,  i,  pp.  521-523;  ii,  pp.  135-136. 

104  Margry,  i,  pp.  523-524;  ii,  p.  137- 

»<»  Margry,  i,  pp.  524-525  ;  ii,  PP-  138-139- 

106  Margry,  i,  p.  525;  ii,  p.  139. 

in.     OCCUPATION 

»La  Salle  left  Fort  Crevecoeur  March  i,  1680  (Margry.  ii,  pp.  51, 
55,  117).  arrived  at  Fort  Miami  March  24th,  and  met  there  the  two 
men  sent  to  Mackinac  the  preceding  autumn  (Mai^ry,  ii,  pp.  59,  60). 
These  two  men  were  La  Chapelle  and  Le  Blanc  (Moyse  Hillaret, 
Margry,  ii,  p.  109).  Tonty  says  the  two  men  sent  to  Mackinac  in  the 
autumn  were  sent  to  him  with  the  order  to  build  a  fort  (French's 
"La."  i,  p.  55).  As  they  left  Fort  Miami  March  24th  at  earliest,  even 
if  they  made  as  good  speed  as  La  Salle  did  the  following  March  from 
Fort  Miami  to  the  great  Illinois  village  (Margry,  i,  pp.  529-530).  they 
would  hardly  have  reached  Fort  Crevecoeur  before  April  nth. 

2  Membr6  as  quoted  by  Le  Clercq  states  that  the  flight  and  deser- 
tion led  by  Le  Blanc  and  La  Chapelle  took  place  "about  the  middle 
of  March"  ("Le  Clercq",  Shea,  ii,  p.  136),  but  this  does  not  agree 
with  his  previous  statement  that  these  men  were  at  the  St.  Joseph 
March  13th  {Ibid.,  p.  131),  whence  they  could  not  have  reached 
Crevecoeur  by  the  middle  of  the  month,  nor  with  the  Relation  OflBi- 
cielle  (Margry,  i,  p.  520).  He  doubtless  meant  to  write  "about  the 
middle  of  April." 


NOTES  203 

3"Le  Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  pp.  130-131.  Tonty,  1693,  French's  "La.," 
i,  p.  55.  Margry  i,  pp.  496,  503-504.  520,  584;  Ibid.,  ii,  pp.  70,  103, 
109,  118,  119,  133- 

*  Margry,  i,  p.  496;  ii,  p.  69.  "Le  Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  p.  132.  Mar- 
gry, i,  p.  503;  ii,  pp.  70,  118,  119,  104-105. 

5Margr5^  i,  p.  503;  ii,  pp.  119,  120. 

^Membre.  "Le  Clercq,"  Shea,"  ii,  pp.  132,  133.  136-137,  138. 

'Membr6,  "Le Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  pp.  133.  i34.  137-138.  "Hennepin 
La.,"  p.  166,  n. 

8 Margry,  i,  p.  584;  ii,  p.  297.  Membr6,  "Le  Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  pp. 
136,  137,  138. 

^Membre,  "Le  Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  p.  137-  Margry,  i,  pp.  507.  584; 
ii,  p.  121. 

JO  Margry,  i,  pp.  508,  584-585 ;  ii,  pp.  120,  121,  140. 

"Margry,  i,  pp.  508,  509,  585,  586;  ii,  pp.  121,  122.  Membre.  "Le 
Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  p.  141. 

12  Margry,  i,  pp.  509-510,  585-586;  ii,  pp.  122-123.  Membr6, 
in  "Le  Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  pp.  142-143-  French's  "La.,"  i,  pp. 
55-56. 

13  Ibid. 
» Ibid. 

15 Margry,  ii,  p.  343.  Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  p.  116,  n.  Suite's 
"Les  Tonty,"  p.  4. 

16 French's  "La.,"  p.  57.     "La  Hontan,"  edit.  1735,  i,  p.  82. 

"  French's  "La.,"  i,  p.  57. 

18  Margry,  i  and  ii,  supra.     Hennepin  "N.  D.,"  pp.  284-289. 

1' Margry,  i,  p.  511;  ii,  p.  124.     "Le  Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  p.  145. 

2*) "Hennepin  La.,"  p.  268. 

21  "Le  Clercq,"  Shea.  Ibid.  French's  "La.,"  p.  57.  Margry,  i, 
p.  588.     Hennepin  "N.  D.,"  p.  291. 

«*Membr6,  "Le  Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  pp.  145-146-147.  Margry,  i,  pp. 
511,  589;  ii,  p.  124.  Shea  "Hennepin  La.,"  pp.  190,  270.  Hennepin 
"N.  D.,"  p.  143.  Hennepin  "N.  D.,"  p.  294,  says  Ribourde  was 
about  sixty-five  years  old,  but  La  Salle  says  he  was  aged  sixty-three 
years  in  1680.  Margry,  ii,  p.  119.  For  Ribourde's  character  see 
"Le  Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  p.  148. 

2='Membr6,  "Le  Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  p.  149.  Margry,  i,  pp.  501,  511, 
514,  589;  ii,  pp.  116,  125,  128.  French's  "La.,"  i,  p.  58.  "Le 
Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  pp.  145-150. 

"Tonty,  1693,  French's  "La.,"  i,  pp.  58-59.  Tonty,  1684,  Margry,  i, 
pp.  589,  590,  592.  Membre  in  "Le  Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  pp.  147,  149-150. 
Relation  Officielle,  Margry,  i,  p.  512. 

"  Ibid.    Tonty  and  the  Relation  Oflficielle  say  that  he  wintered 


204     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

among  the  Pottawattamies  (Margry,  i,  pp.  512,  592,  Relations 
In6dites,  p.  13),  as  does  La  Salle  (Margry,  i,  p.  532;  ii,  p.  144).  Mem- 
bra says  he  himself  went  to  the  bay  of  the  Puants,  where  the  Jesuit 
Fathers  have  a  house,  and  that  Tonty  followed  some  time  after  with 
the  Frenchmen  ("Le  Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  p.  150). 

26  Margry,  i,  pp.  512,  517;  ii,  p.  124.  Hennepin  "N.  D.,"  p.  288. 
"Le  Clercq"  Shea,  ii,  p.  144.     "Hemnepin  La.,"  p.  259. 

2'  Parkman's  "Jesuits  in  North  America,"  Introduction,  note,  xlvii- 
xlviii.  Margry,  i,  pp.  504-505 ;  ii,  p.  33.  Du  Chesneau  on  Western 
Indians,  i68r,  Paris  Documents,  ix  (N.  Y.  Col.  History),  p.  162. 

«8  Margry,  ii,  p.  33. 

'"Membr^,  in  "Le  Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  p.  134. 

^^ /(Jzi/. ,  pp.  139-140. 

*' Margry,  ii,  pp.  34,  99,  102;  115,  116,118,  119,  121,  145,  146;  216- 
220,  297-298. 

^^  Ibid.,  p.  226. 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  144-145. 

^*  Ibid.,  pp.  297-298. 

^Relation  Officielle,  Margry,  i,  pp.  525-527;  ii,  pp.  139-141. 

^Margry,  i,  pp.  527-529;  ii,  pp.  141-143. 

37  Margry,  i,  pp.  529-531 ;  ii,  pp.  143-144,  146-147. 

^^  Ibid.,  i,  pp.  531-543;  ",  PP-  147-158. 

3®  Tonty,  1684,  Margry,  i,  pp.  592-593.  Tonty,  1693,  French's 
"La.,"  i,  p.  59.  Membre  in  "Le  Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  pp.  151,  151  n, 
157.  159.  160.  Relation  Officielle,  Margry,  i,  pp.  531-543.  La  Salle, 
Margry,  ii,  pp.  147,  158,  163-164,  203. 

♦°La  Salle,  Margry,  ii,  pp.  164-165,  166.  169,  187;  R6cit  de  Nicolas 
de  La  Salle,  Margry,  i,  p.  549.  Tonty,  1684,  Margry,  i,  p.  593. 
Membr6  in  "Le  Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  pp.  161-162.  Relation  de  la 
Decouverte  de  1 'embouchure  de  la  Riviere  Mississippi,  in  "Geologic 
Pratique  de  la  Louisiane,"  par  R.  Thomassy,  p.  9  (cited  as  Thomassy). 

"  R6cit  de  L'Enterprise,  Jacques  de  La  M6terie,  Marg^  ii,  p.  187. 
Tonty,  1684,  Margry,  i,  pp.  593,  595 ;  ii,  p.  169.  Thomassy,  pp.  9,  10. 
Membr6  in  "Le  Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  p.  163. 

« Membre,  supra,  pp.  163,  164.  Thomassy,  p.  10.  Margry,  i,  pp. 
549.  550,  595;  ii.  PP-  187,  207.  243. 

*^ Tonty,  1693,  French's  "La.,"  i,  p.  62. 

"  Ibid.     Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  pp.  285-289,  Margry  ii,  pp.  186  seq. 

*5  R6cit  de  Nicolas  de  La  Salle,  Margry,  i,  pp.  568-570.  Tonty,  1684, 
Margry,  i,  pp.  611-612.     Tonty,  1693,  French's  "La.,"  p.  65. 

*6  Ibid.     La  Salle,  Margry,  ii,  pp.  202-203. 

«  Lettre  de  M.  de  la  Barre  k  Colbert  le  14  Novembre,  1682,  Margry, 
ii,  p.  303.     "Le  Clercq"  Shea,  ii,  pp.  185,  194-195-196. 


NOTES  205 

♦8  Tonty,  in  his  Memoire  of  1693,  says  that  La  Salle  ordered  him  to 
go  to  gather  the  French  on  the  River  of  the  Miamis,  in  order  to  build 
the  Fort  St.  Louis  of  the  Illinois,  and  that  he  set  out  with  this 
design,  and  when  he  arrived  there  M.  de  La  Salle,  who  had  changed 
his  mind,  came  to  join  him  there  (Rel.  In6d.,  pp.  21-22).  But  Tonty 
also  says  in  his  Relation  of  1684  that  La  Salle  ordered  him  to  go  to 
have  built  a  fort  at  the  portage  of  the  River  of  the  Illinois,  to 
maintain  in  security  the  village  of  the  Shawanoes  whom  he  had 
called  to  be  near  him  and  had  joined  with  the  Miamis  (Margry.  i,  pp. 
612-613).  That  this  is  the  more  correct  of  the  two  statements  is  con- 
firmed by  La  Salle's  letter  to  the  Governor  (Margry,  ii,  p.  311),  writ- 
ten October  5,  16S2,  which  says  that  he  has  caused  a  fort  to  be 
constructed  at  the  portage  of  the  River  of  the  Illinois,  and  asks  for 
supplies  for  it ;  and  by  his  letter  to  one  of  his  friends,  written  from 
Mackinac  October,  1682,  which  says  that  he  has  built  a  fort  at  the 
portage  of  the  River  of  the  Illinois,  where  he  has  left  thirty  men  with 
the  Sieur  de  Tonty  (Margry,  ii,  p.  294),  and  by  La  Barres  complaint 
that  La  Salle  was  going  to  build  a  fort  at  this  portage,  in  his  letter  to 
Colbert  of  November  14,  1682  (M.,  ii,  p.  303).  Tonty  explains  above 
(Margry,  i,  p.  613)  how  he  came  to  go  to  winter  tf«  the  Illinois  River, 
and  that  La  Salle  came  to  join  him  on  the  30th  of  December.  Nicolas 
de  La  Salle  says  expressly  that  La  Salle,  on  his  way  from  the  Mis- 
sissippi Discovery,  left  eight  men  at  Fort  Crevecoeur,  that  he  sent  M. 
de  Tonty  from  Mackinac  with  nine  men  to  Crhvecaeur  to  join  the 
others,  and  that  La  Salle  arrived  there  also  after  some  time,  made 
the  French  break  camp,  and  led  them  opposite  the  place  where  the 
village  of  the  Illinois  was  (M.,  i,  pp.  569,  570).  La  Salle,  and  Tonty, 
1684,  agree.     Tonty,  1693,  is  therefore  incorrect. 

*' Tonty,  1684,  Margry,  i,  p.  613.     La  Salle,  Margry,  ii,  pp.  294. 

303.  311- 
^La  Salle,  Margry,  ii,  p.  248. 
"  Lake  St.  Louis,  D.  Girouard,  p.  25. 
*«  R^cit  de  Nicolas  de  La  Salle,  Margry,  i,  p.  570. 
■^  Margjy,  i,  p.  582. 

^Relations  inedites,  p.  19.     French's  "La.,"  p.  64, 
^Membr6in  "Le  Clercq,"  Shea,  ii,  p.  186. 
^Marg^,  i,  pp.  465-466. 
^"^  Ibid.,  ii,  p.  174. 

IV.    SETTLEMENT 

'Tonty,  1693,  Rel.  In6d.,  p.  22.  Tonty,  1684,  Margjy,  i,  p.  613. 
•Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  pp.  293,  294,  and  note.  Lettre  de  La  Salle, 
Margry,  ii,  pp.  175-176.    Joutel,  Margry,  iii,  pp.  479,  495.    La  Salle 


2o6     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

calls  this  post  "Fort  Saint-Louis  dans  la  Louisiane" — see  his  conces- 
sion to  Michel  Dizy,  Lake  St.  Louis,  Girouard,  p.  25,  and  Lettre  de 
La  Salle  a  Antoine  Brossard,  September  i,  1683,  Chicago  Historical 
Society  MSS.  Tonty  calls  it  "Fort  Saint-Louis  des  Illinois"  (Suite's 
"Les  Tonty,"  pp.  15,  17),  and  by  this  title  it  was  generally  knowa 

2  Tonty,  1693,  Rel.  In6d.,  p.  22.     Tonty,  1684,  Margry,  i,  p.  613. 

'^See  names  on  Franquelin's  map,  Parkman's  "La  Salle," 
P-  295. 

*  Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  p.  297,  and  Franquelin's  map,  supra. 
Hebberd  ("Wisconsin  under  Dominion  of  France,"  p.  50),  thinks 
this  claim  of  La  Salle's  fraudulent,  because  the  Miamis  are  counted 
thrice.  This  mistake  is  made  by  Franquelin,  and  Parkman  follows 
him,  but  it  does  not  nullify  La  Salle's  report.  Tonty,  1693,  supra, 
says  300  cabins  came,  /.  e.,  of  Illinois,  Miamis  and  Shawanoes.  Hen- 
nepin ("La.,"  p.  153),  says  the  great  Illinois  village  had  460  cabins, 
made  like  long  arbors,  each  with  four  or  five  fires,  and  each  fire  with 
one  or  two  families.  Allowing  five  persons  to  a  family,  each  cabin 
might  contain  fifty  people,  and  Tonty's  300  cabins  would  thus  mean 
15,000  persons  from  these  three  tribes  alone,  and  the  strange  tribes 
would  easily  supply  the  remainder.  See  Membrd's  statement  (Mar- 
gry, ii,  p.  304)  that  La  Salle  led  600  Shawanoes  with  him.  This 
probably  means  warriors,  who  would  represent  3,000  persons  from 
this  tribe.  La  Salle  also  says  that  9  or  10  Shawanoe  villages  were 
abandoned  to  join  the  French  (Margry,  ii,  p.  314). 

5  La  Salle  a  La  Barre,  Margry,  ii,  pp.  314,  315,  317;  Kingsford's 
Canada,  ii,  pp.  31-32.  La  Barre  a  Colbert,  Nov.  12,  1683,  and  Nov. 
14,  1683.  Margry,  ii,  pp.  302-303-304,  336-337- 

8  "Morel  de  la  Durantaye,"  par  A.  C.  De  Leroy  Macdonald,  in  "Le 
Monde,"  Sept.  30,  1893. 

^Joui-nal  D'une  Expedition  Contre  Les  Iroquois  in  1687,  Redige 
par  Le  Chevalier  De  Baugy  .  .  .  Lettres  et  Pieces  Relatives  au  Fort 
Saint  Louis  des  Illinois;  Paris,  1883  (cited  as  De  Baugy),  pp.  159,  170. 

8  La  Salle  a  La  Barre  de  Fort  Saint-Louis,  2  Avril  (1683),  Margry,  ii, 
pp.  312-317. 

9  La  Salle  h.  ha.  Barre,  du  Portage  de  Checagou,  4  Juin,  1683,  Mar- 
gry, ii,  pp.  317-328. 

^^  Ibid.,  p.  317. 

"  Margry,  ii,  pp.  317,  323. 

^^  Ibid.,  p.  317. 

^^  Ibid.,  pp.  317,  321,  323,  327,  328. 

"  Ibid. 

1^  Ibid. ,  pp.  329,  336. 

^^  Ibid.,  p.  165. 


NOTES  207 

"  La  Salle's  letter  from  the  Chicago  portage  to  La  Barre  is  dated 
June  4,  1683  (Margry,  ii,  p.  317) 

18  Feuilles  d6tachees  d'une  lettre  de  La  Salle,  Marg^,  ii,  pp.  165-167. 
The  date  and  first  part  of  this  letter  are  missing,  but  the  context 
shows  that  it  was  written  after  the  construction  of  Fort  Saint-Louis, 
and  probably  in  the  year  1683. 

1^  De  Baugfy,  pp.  i6i-i68. 

^ Ibid.,  p.  174. 

^^  Ibid.,  p.  175. 

"DeBaugy,  pp.  177-178,  180-181. 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  177-184. 

**  La  Barre  k  Seignelay,  Margry,  ii,  pp.  332-333. 

«» La  Salle  h.  Brossard  et  al,  Sept.  i,  1683.  Chi.  Hist  Soc.  MSS. 
"Lac  St.  Louis,"  Girouard,  p.  26.  Jugements  et  Deliberations  du 
Conseil  Souverain  de  la  Nouvelle-France.     Quebec,  1887,  iii,  p.  544. 

"Tonty,  1684,  Margry,  i,  p.  613. 

2' La  Salle  a  Brossard  et  al.  Supra.  Tonty,  1693,  Rel.  In6d.,  p. 
22;  1684,  Margery,  i,  p.  613. 

**  Tonty,  1693,  supra,  says  La  Salle  departed  (from  Fort  Saint  Louis) 
in  the  month  of  September.  But  Tonty,  1684,  says  he  departed 
thence  in  the  month  of  August.  And  La  Salle's  letter  to  Brossard 
and  others  at  Fort  Saint  Louis,  written  after  leaving  that  place  on 
this  expedition  and  a  journey  of  some  days,  is  dated  at  Chicago,  Sep- 
tember I,  1683.     He  probably  left  the  fort  about  August  26th. 

**  Tonty,  1693,  supra. 

^  Ibid.,  and  Tonty,  1684,  supra. 

^*  H.  W.  Beckwith's  address  to  Chicago  Bar  Association. 

**  Tonty,  1693,  Marg^,  i,  pp.  613-614.  Tonty,  1684,  Rel.  Ined., 
p.  22. 

^  RoUand  evidently  was  the  famous  trader  of  Lachine.  See  "Lac 
St.  Louis,"  Girouard,  pp.  71-74. 

^  Boisrondet  was  Tonty's  comrade  in  1680  at  the  Iroquois  invasion 
and  La  Salle's  commissary  at  Fort  Saint-Louis  (see  Joutel,  in  Margery, 
iii,  p.  478). 

^  This  letter  was  preserved  by  Brossard  and  his  descendants  for 
more  than  two  hundred  years,  until  1895,  when  it  came  to  sale  in 
Montreal  and  was  purchased  by  the  Chicago  Historical  Society 

^  Tonty.  1684,  Margery,  i,  p.  614. 

*' La  Salle's  Memoir  to  Seignelay,  N.  Y.  Col.  Doc.,  ix,  p.  215;  and 
Extrait  du  Memoire,  Margry,  ii,  p.  347.  La  Barre  denied  this  charge 
(Margry,  ii,  pp.  349-3 5o). 

^  La  Salle's  Memoir,  supra,  p.  214. 

39  Margry,  ii,  pp.  338-344- 


2o8     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

*o"Ferland's  Cours  d'Histoire,"  ii,  p.  138,  citing  Belmont's  "His- 
toire  du  Canada,"  p.  16. 

"  Margry,  ii,  p.  343. 

*»Tonty,  1693,  Rel.  Ined,  p.  22. 

« Ibid.     Tonty,  1684,  Margry,  i,  p.  614. 

"Tonty,  1684,  1693.  supra. 

*5  Lettre  du  Pere  Nouvel  a  La  Barre,  de  la  Mission  de  Saint  Frangois 
Xavier,  dans  la  Bale  des  Puans.  Margry,  ii,  p.  345.  Tonty,  1684,  supra. 

**  Tonty,  1684,  supra. 

«  Margry.  ii,  pp.  344-345- 

*»Ibid. 

♦»  Nouvel  to  La  Barre,  supra.  Tonty,  1684,  1693,  supra, 

^  Tonty,  supra. 

5'  Tonty,  1693,  supra,  says  it  was  the  23d,  but  in  a  more  formal 
statement  (De  Baug^,  p.  190)  he  says  the  22d. 

"Tonty,  1693,  supra. 

'"^  La  Salle's  letter  to  Brossard  shows  that  Boisrondet  was  at  this 
time  at  the  fort. 

*«  Tonty,  1684,  supra. 

^  Nicolas  de  La  Salle,  Marg^,  i,  p.  570. 

*«La  Salle  to  Seignelay,  N.  Y.  Col.  Doc,  ix,  pp.  213-215. 

^"^  Ibid.,  p.  216. 

^  De  Baugy,  pp.  186-187.  For  La  Barre's  campaign  against  the 
Iroquois  see  Kingsford's  "Canada,"  ii,  p.  54. 

'■^  Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  p.  329.    Kingsford's  "Canada,"  ii,  p.  120. 

•^Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  p.  329,     Paris  Documents,  ix,  p.  223. 

"N.  Y.  Col.  Doc.,  ix,  pp.  225,  233.     Parkman's  "La Salle,"  p.  330. 

"N.  Y.  Col.  Doc.,  supra. 

63  La  Forest  was  at  La  Rochelle  July  17,  1684,  when  La  Salle  gave 
him  an  obligation  there  (Margry,  ii,  p.  418).  He  arrived  in  Quebec 
in  time  to  go  in  autumn  to  Fort  Frontenac  (Tonty,  1693,  Rel.  In6d., 
p.  23). 

®*  Tonty,  1684,  1693,  supra. 

*^De  Baugy,  p.  187. 

"Tonty,  1693,  Rel.  In6d.,  p.  23. 

•'  De  Baug^,  p.  189. 

"/(J/ie/.,  pp.  189-190. 

«» Ibid. 

™  Tonty  a  M.  Cabart  de  Villemont,  Aug.  24,  1686,  Margry,  iii,  p.  559. 

"Tonty,  1693,  Rel.  Ined.,  p.  23.     Margry,  iii,  p.  559. 

"Tonty  au  ministre  de  la  marine,  Aug.  24,  1686,  Margry,  iii,  p.  553. 
Proces  Verbal,  Tonty,  April,  1686,  Margry,  iii,  p.  554-  Tonty  a 
M.  Cabart  de  Villemont,  supra,  p.  560. 


NOTES  209 


'^Margry,  iii,  pp.  555,  560.     Tonty,  1693,  Rel.  In6d.,  p.  23. 

">*  Kingsford's  "Canada,"  pp.  46,  58.   Tonty,  1693,  Rel.  In6d.,  p.  23. 

75  Margry,  iii,  p.  560.  Tonty,  1693,  supra,  says  he  learned  at  Mack- 
inac that  Denonville  had  relieved  La  Barre,  and  by  a  letter  which  he 
did  him  the  honor  to  write  had  shown  that  he  desired  to  see  him.  He 
does  not  say  the  letter  was  received  there.  This  M6moire  was  not 
written  until  1693,  eight  years  later.  In  his  letter  to  Cabart  de  Ville- 
mont,  written  in  1686,  within  a  year  of  the  events,  Tonty  says  he  had 
to  return  to  Fort  Saint  Louis  from  Mackinac,  and  search  by  another 
route  for  RoUand,  who  brought  him  the  Marquis'  letter.  Yet  he 
seems  to  have  learned  at  Mackinac  of  La  Salle's  need,  and  of  Denon- 
ville's  wish  to  see  Tonty.  The  language  of  the  text  seems  to  be  the 
reasonable  reconciliation  of  the  several  statements. 

'®Rel.  Inedit.,  p.  23,  Margr5^  iii,  p.  560. 

"  Franquehn's  map,  1684,  shows  no  fort  at  Chicago.  Tonty  found 
one  there  in  December,  1685. 

'*  Joutel,  Margry,  iii,  p.  500.     De  Baugfy,  p.  185. 

^'Joutel,  Margry,  iii,  p.  500.     Tonty,  1693,  Rel.  In6d.,  p.  23. 

*•  Lettre  de  La  Salle,  4  Juin,  1683,  Marg^,  ii,  p.  317.   Tonty,  supra, 

*i  Franquelin's  map  of  1684,  Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  p.  289. 

8«H.  W.  Beckwith,  Chicago  Tribune,  Feb.  24,  1895. 

*3  Treaty  of  Greenville,  Aug.  3,  1795.  American  State  Papers,  vol. 
i,  Indian  Afifairs,  p.  562. 

**  Margry,  iii,  pp.  555.  560.  Tonty,  supra.  Paris  Documents,  ix, 
p.  273.  Denonville  to  La  Forest,  June  6,  1686,  in  Francis  Parkman's 
MS.  in  Mass.  Historical  Society. 

^  Tonty,  1693,  Rel.  In6d.,  pp.  23-24.  Tonty  au  ministre,  Margry, 
iii.  P-  553-  Proces  Verbal,  Margry,  iii,  pp.  555,  558.  "Lac  St. 
Louis,"  Girouard,  pp.  80-81.  Tonty  k  Villemont,  Margry,  iii,  pp. 
560-561. 

"•French's  "La.,"  p.  68,  note. 

*'  Tonty,  supra.     Margjy,  supra. 

^8  Kingsford's  "Canada,"  ii,  pp.  74,79.  N.  Y.  Col.  Doc.,  ix, 
supra. 

"^  Francis  Parkman  MS.  in  Mass.  Historical  Society. 

**  Ibid.     Lettre  de  Denonville  a  La  Forest,  6  Juin,  16S6. 

^*  Tonty,  1693,  Rel.  Ined.,  pp.  24,  25,  26. 

'''Histoire  du  Canada,  par  M.  L'Abb6  de  Belmont,  pp.  20-24. 
Kingsford's  "Canada,"  ii,  pp.  79-85. 

93  Ibid.     Ibid. 

^  Tonty,  1693,  Rel.  In6d.,  pp.  26,  27. 

»*  Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  chapter  27,  pp.  398-409,  note. 

**  Joutel,  Margry,  iii,  pp.  407,  436,  439. 


2IO     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

"^"^  Ibid.,  p.  45r. 

^  Kingsford's  "Canada,"  ii,  p.  i6i. 

^  Parkman's  "La  Salle,"  p.  341. 

"^^  Kingsford's  "Canada,"  supra. 

">'  Joutel,  supra,  pp.  469-473. 

102  Joutel,  Margry,  iii,  pp.  473-479.  Father  Anastasius  Douay,  Shea's 
"Le  Clercq,"  pp.  229-282.  Joutel  does  not  speak  of  the  Indian  Ttir- 
pin,  but  Douay  mentions  his  tribe  and  name,  supra,  p.  275. 

lo*  Joutel,  Margry,  iii,  pp.  479,  490,  494.  Douay,  in  "Le  Clercq,"  ii, 
p.  276. 

">*  Joutel,  supra,  p.  505. 

"®  Joutel,  Margry,  iii,  pp.  480-481,  484,  487,  489. 

^^  Ibid.,  pp.  482,  489,  490,  493,  495-496,  497-499. 

"*^  M6moire  de  I'Abb^  Jean  Cavelier,  Margry,  iii,  pp.  588-589. 

i<*  Tonty  a  Villemont,  Margry,  iii,  p.  564. 

109  Joutel,  Marg^,  iii,  pp.  488,  499,  500. 

""  La  Salle  k  Tonty,  Margry,  iii,  p.  549.  Cavelier  de  Tonty,  Mar- 
gry, iii,  p.  550. 

"1  Joutel,  Margry,  iii,  p.  499. 

"»/*/V/.,  pp.  499,  500,  507,  508-509,  510-511. 

^^^  Ibid.,  p.  511. 

^^^  Ibid.,  pp.  511,  513. 

"*  Suite's  "Les  Tonty,"  p.  21. 

"*  Joutel,  Margry,  pp.  517-534. 

1"  Tonty,  1693,  Rel.  In6d.,  pp.  27,  28. 

"*  "Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,"  iv,  p.  194,  La  Hon- 
tan  Voyages,  Lettre  xiv,  vol,  i,  p.  106,  edit.  h.  la  Haye,  1704. 

"9  Tonty,  1693,  Rel.  Ined.,  pp.  31-33.  Joutel,  Margry,  iii,  pp.  330  and 
331,  French's  "La.,"  pp.  142-144.  Parkman,  who  has  most  worthily 
told  the  story  of  his  life,  pays  him  this  matchless  tribute:  "It  is  easy 
to  reckon  up  his  defects,  but  it  is  not  easy  to  hide  from  sight  the 
Roman  virtues  that  redeemed  them.  Beset  by  a  throng  of  enemies, 
he  stands,  like  the  king  of  Israel,  head  and  shoulders  above  them 
all.  He  was  a  tower  of  adamant,  against  whose  impregnable  front, 
hardship  and  danger,  the  rage  of  men  and  the  elements,  the  southern 
sun,  the  northern  blast,  fatigue,  famine,  and  disease,  delay,  disap- 
pointment, and  deferred  hope  emptied  their  quivers  in  vain.  .  .  . 
America  owes  him  an  enduring  memory,  for  in  this  masculine  figfure 
she  sees  the  pioneer  who  guided  her  to  her  richest  heritage." 

120  Tonty,  supra,  p.  36. 

121  La  Hontan,  Lettres  xiv,  xvi-xvii,  vol.  i,  p.  177,  edit,  k  la  Haye, 
1704. 

^^  Ibid.,  La  Hontan,  vol.  i,  p.  177. 


NOTES  an 

"3  For  La  Hontan's  unreliability  see  Kiz^sford's  "Canada,"  ii,  pp. 
59-60,  note. 

»"N.  Y.  Col.  Doc,  ix,  p.  276. 

125  Ibid. ,  pp.  343-344.     Margry,  ill,  p.  563. 

>»Margry,  iii,  p.  576. 

127  Kingsford's  "Canada,"  ii,  pp.  198,  aco.  Quebec  Documents,. 
i,  p.  466. 


ILLINOIS   IN   THE   EIGHTEENTH   CENTURY 

I.     Old  Fort  Chartres 

The  marvelous  growth  of  the  Great  West  obscures  all 
relating  to  it,  save  what  is  of  recent  date.  It  has  a  past 
and  a  history,  but  these  are  hidden  by  the  throng  of  mod- 
ern events.  Few  realize  that  the  territory  of  Illinois, 
which  seems  but  yesterday  to  have  passed  from  the  con- 
trol of  the  red  man  to  that  of  our  Republic,  was  once 
claimed  by  Spain,  occupied  by  France,  and  conquered  by 
England.  ,  And  fewer  still  may  know  that  within  its 
boundaries  yet  remain  the  ruins  of  a  fortress,  in  its  time 
the  most  formidable  in  America,  which  filled  a  large 
place  in  the  operations  of  these  g^eat  powers  in  the  val- 
ley of  the  Mississippi.  Above  the  walls  of  old  Fort  Char- 
tres, desolate  now,  and  almost  forgotten,  have  floated,  in 
turn,  the  flags  of  two  mighty  nations,  and  its  story  is  an 
epitome  of  their  strife  for  sovereignty  over  the  New 
World. 

The  union  of  Canada,  by  a  line  of  forts,  with  the  region 
of  the  West  and  South,  was  a  favorite  scheme  of  the 
French  Crown  at  an  early  day.  It  origfinated  in  the  active 
brain  of  the  great  explorer,  La  Salle,  whose  communica- 
tions to  the  ministers  of  Louis  XIV  contain  the  first  sug- 
gestions of  such  a  policy.  These  military  stations  were 
intended  to  be  the  centers  of  colonization  for  the  vast 
inland  territory,  and  its  protection  against  rival  nations. 
Spain  had  laid  claim  to  nearly  the  whole  of  North  Amer- 

212 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  213 

ica,  under  the  name  of  Florida,  by  the  right  of  first  dis- 
covery, and  by  virtue  of  a  g^rant  from  the  Pope,  who 
disposed  of  a  continent — which  he  did  not  own — with 
reckless  liberality.  France  relied  on  the  possession  taken 
by  La  Salle  for  her  title  to  the  Mississippi  Valley ;  and  a 
long  altercation  ensued.  The  ordinary  state  of  feeling 
between  their  officers  may  be  inferred  from  a  corre- 
spondence which  has  come  down  to  us  from  the  early  part 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  Bernard  de  La  Harpe  estab- 
lished a  French  post  on  the  Red  River,  and  this  aroused 
the  ire  of  Don  Martin  de  La  Come,  the  nearest  Spanish 
commandant.  Writes  the  Spaniard :  "I  am  compelled  to 
say  that  your  arrival  surprises  me  very  much.  Your  Gov- 
ernor could  not  be  ignorant  that  the  post  you  occupy 
belongs  to  my  government.  I  counsel  you  to  give  advice 
of  this  to  him,  or  you  will  force  me  to  oblige  you  to 
abandon  lands  that  the  French  have  no  right  to  occupy. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  Sir,  &c. ,  De  La  Come. ' '  To  him 
replies  the  courteous  Frenchman:  "Permit  me  to  inform 
you  that  M.  de  Bienville  is  perfectly  informed  of  the  limits 
of  his  government,  and  is  very  certain  that  this  post 
depends  not  upon  the  dominions  of  his  catholic  majesty. 
If  you  will  do  me  the  favor  to  come  into  this  quarter,  I 
will  convince  you  I  hold  a  post  I  know  how  to  defend. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be.  Sir,  &c.,  De  La  Harpe." 

Here  and  elsewhere,  the  French  held  their  own,  and 
continued  to  occupy  the  disputed  territory.  In  the  Illi- 
nois country,  the  mission  villages  of  Cahokia  and  Kas- 
kaskia  sprang  up  and  throve  apace.  From  the  latter 
place,  as  early  as  17 15,  the  good  father  Mermet  reported 
to  the  Governor  of  Canada  that  the  encroaching  English 
were  building  forts  near  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi. 
So  the  shadow  of  the  coming  power  of  her  old  enemy  was 


214     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

cast  athwart  the  path  of  France  in  the  western  wilder- 
ness, while  Spain  watched  her  progress  there  with  a  jeal- 
ous eye.  And  the  need  of  guarding  the  Illinois  settle- 
ments became  more  manifest  when  the  discovery  of  valu- 
able mines  in  that  locality  was  announced.  Such  rumors 
often  repeated,  and  the  actual  smelting  of  lead  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  had  their  effect  in  the 
mother  country.  And  when  the  grant  of  the  province  of 
Louisiana  to  the  merchant  Crozat,  was  surrendered,  in 
17 1 7,  John  Law's  famous  Company  of  the  West,  after- 
ward absorbed  in  that  of  the  Indies,  was  ready  to  become 
his  successor,  and  to  dazzle  the  multitude  with  the  glit- 
tering lure  of  the  gold  and  silver  of  Illinois.  The  repre- 
sentatives of  this  great  corporation,  in  unison  with  tho^e 
of  the  French  Crown,  recognizing  the  many  reasons  for  a 
military  post  in  that  far-away  region,  made  haste  to 
found  it;  and  thus  Fort  Chartres  arose.  It  was  estab- 
lished as  a  link  in  the  great  chain  of  strongholds,  which 
was  to  stretch  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Gulf,  realiz- 
ing the  dream  of  La  Salle ;  a  bulwark  against  Spain  and 
a  barrier  to  England ;  a  protector  of  the  infant  colony, 
and  of  the  church  which  planted  it ;  a  center  for  trade, 
and  for  the  operation  of  the  far-famed  mines;  and  as  the 
chief  seat  in  the  New  World  of  the  Royal  Company  of 
the  Indies,  which  wove  a  spell  so  potent  that  its  victims 
saw,  in  the  near  future,  crowded  cities  all  along  the 
course  of  the  Mississippi,  and  stately  argosies  afloat  upon 
its  waters,  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago. 

On  the  9th  of  February,  1718,,  there  arrived  at  Mobile, 
by  ship,  from  France,  Pierre  Duqu^  Boisbriant,  a  Cana- 
dian gentleman,  with  the  commission  of  Commandant  at 
the  Illinois.  He  was  a  cousin  of  Bienville,  then  Gov- 
ernor of  Louisiana,  and  had  already  served  under  him  in 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  215 

that  province.  In  October,  of  the  same  year,  accompa- 
nied by  several  officers  and  a  detachment  of  troops,  he 
departed  for  the  Illinois  country,  where  he  was  ordered 
to  construct  a  fort.  The  little  flotilla,  stemming  the 
swift  current  of  the  Mississippi,  moved  slowly  on  its  way, 
encountering  no  enemies  more  troublesome  than  "the 
mosquitoes,  which,"  says  the  worthy  priest  Poisson,  who 
took  the  same  joiirney  shortly  after,  "have  caused  mord 
swearing  since  the  French  have  been  here,  than  had  pre- 
viously taken  place  in  all  the  rest  of  the  world."  Late 
in  the  year  Boisbriant  reached  Kaskaskia,  and  selected  a 
site  for  his  post  sixteen  miles  above  that  village,  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Mississippi.  Merrily  rang  the  axes  of  the 
soldiers  in  the  forest  by  the  mighty  river,  as  they  hewed 
out  the  ponderous  timbers  for  palisade  and  bastion.  And 
by  degrees  the  walls  arose,  and  the  barracks  and  com- 
mandant's house,  and  the  storehouse  and  great  hall  oi 
the  India  Company  were  built,  and  the  cannon,  bearing 
the  insignia  of  Louis  XIV,  were  placed  in  position.  In 
the  spring  of  1720  all  was  finished,  the  banker  of  France 
was  given  to  the  breeze,  and  the  work  was  named  Fort 
Chartres.  An  early  governor  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
who  wrote  its  pioneer  history,  has  gravely  stated  that  this 
fort  was  so  called  because  it  had  a  charter  from  the  Crown 
of  France  for  its  erection.  But  it  is  feared  that  the  same 
wag  who  persuaded  an  Illinois  legislature  to  name  the 
second  capital  of  the  State  Vandalia,  by  reason  of  the 
alleged  traces  of  a  tribe  of  Indians  named  the  Vandals  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  site,  also  victimized  a  governor. 
We  can  hardly  accept  his  derivation,  when  it  seems  so 
much  more  probable  that  the  name  was  taken,  by  way  of 
compliment  to  the  then  Regent,  from  the  title  of  his  son, 
the  Due  de  Chartres,  for  whom,  about  this  time,  streets 


2i6     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

were  named  in  New  Orleans  and  Kaskaskia,  which  are 
still  thus  designated. 

The  first  important  arrival  at  the  new  post  was  that  of 
Philippe  Frangois  Renault,  formerly  a  banker  in  Paris,  the 
director-general  of  the  mines  of  the  India  Company,  who 
reached  Fort  Chartres  before  its  completion,  and  made 
his  headquarters  there.  He  brought  with  him  250  miners 
and  soldiers,  and  also  a  large  number  of  slaves  from  St. 
Domingo.  This  was  the  beginning  of  negro  slavery  in 
Illinois.  The  practice  of  enslaving  Indian  captives  was 
already  in  vogue,  but  from  this  time  on  the  records  of 
the  French  settlements  there  speak  of  both  black  slaves 
and  red  slaves.  The  fort  was  finished  not  at  all  too  soon. 
The  tardy  Spaniards  had  at  last  decided  to  strike  a  blow 
at  their  neighbor  on  the  Mississippi,  and  Boisbriant 
hardly  had  everything  in  readiness  when  news  reached 
him  of  the  march  of  a  force  from  Mexico  against  his 
stronghold.  But  this  invasion  was  repelled  by  the  natives 
on  the  route,  and  all  concerned  in  it  were  slain,  except  the 
chaplain  of  the  expedition,  who  was  taken  prisoner  by 
the  Pawnees.  He  finally  escaped  in  a  dexterous  manner. 
While  delighting  the  Indians  with  feats  of  horsemanship 
he  gradually  withdrew  to  a  distance,  and  described  a  final 
elaborate  figure  which  had  no  return  curve.  Two  Indian 
chiefs,  who  displayed  as  trophies  a  Catalonian  pistol  and 
a  pair  of  Spanish  shoes,  gave  this  account  to  Father 
Charlevoix,  at  Green  Bay. 

This  pleasant  old  traveler  was  then  making  the  jour- 
ney through  North  America,  of  which  he  has  left  such  a 
charming  account.  On  the  9th  of  October,  1721,  he 
passed  Fort  Chartres,  which  stood  a  musket-shot  from 
the  river,  as  he  tells  us,  and  he  further  says,  "M.  Duqu^ 
de  Boisbriant  commands  here  for  the  Company  to  whom 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  217 

the  place  belongs.  The  French  are  now  beginning  to 
settle  the  country  between  this  Fort  and  Kaskaskia. " 
The  leader  of  Charlevoix'  escort  was  a  young  Canadian 
officer,  Jean  St.  Ange  de  Belle  Rive,  destined  in  later 
years  to  have  a  closer  acquaintance  with  Fort  Chartres 
than  this  passing  glimpse  of  its  newly-built  walls  and 
structures  afforded  him.  He  hardly  anticipated  then  that 
to  him  would  come  the  honor  of  commanding  it,  and 
that  on  him,  almost  half  a  century  later,  would  fall  the 
sad  duty  of  finally  lowering  there  his  country's  flag, 
which  waved  so  proudly  above  it  on  that  autumn 
morning. 

No  sooner  was  the  fort  erected  than  a  village  began  to 
grow  up  at  its  gates,  in  which  the  watchful  Jesuits  forth- 
with established  the  parish  of  St.  Anne  de  Fort  Char- 
tres. All  that  remains  of  the  records  of  this  parish  is  in 
the  writer's  possession.  They  begin  with  an  ancient 
document,  tattered  and  worn,  written  in  Quebec,  in  the 
year  17 16.  It  is  a  copy  of  a  curious  decree  of  Louis  XV, 
promulgated  in  the  same  year,  which  seems  to  be  some- 
thing in  the  nature  of  a  manual  of  church  etiquette. 
Reciting  that  His  Majesty  has  considered  all  the  ordi- 
nances on  the  subject  of  honors  in  the  churches  of  New 
France,  and  wishes  to  put  an  end  to  all  the  contests  on 
the  subject,  it  proceeds  to  regulate  the  whole  matter. 
Twelve  articles  provide  that  the  Governor-General  and  the 
Intendant  shall  each  have  a  prie  Dieu  in  the  cathedrals  of 
Quebec  and  Montreal,  the  Governor-General  on  the  right, 
the  Intendant  on  the  left ;  the  commander  of  the  troops 
shall  have  a  seat  behind  the  Governor-General ;  in  church 
processions  the  Governor-General  shall  march  at  the  head 
of  the  council,  his  guards  in  front,  the  Intendant  to  the 
left  and  behind  the  council,  and  the  chief  notary,  first 


2i8     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

usher,  and  captain  of  the  guard,  with  the  Governor-Gen- 
eral, yet  behind  him,  but  not  on  the  same  line  with  the 
council ;  and  similar  minute  directions  cover  all  contin- 
gencies. In  all  other  churches  of  New  France,  the  same 
rules  of  precedence  are  to  be  observed  according  to  the 
rank  of  those  in  attendance.  Doubtless  copies  of  this 
important  decree  were  kept  in  readiness,  that  one  might 
be  furnished  to  each  new  church  at  its  establishment. 
And  probably  the  one  from  which  we  quote  was  sent 
from  Quebec  to  Ste.  Anne  of  Fort  Chartres  some  time  in 
1 7  21,  the  year  in  which  the  first  entries  seem  to  have 
been  made  in  the  parish  regfisters.  We  may  presume 
that  Boisbriant  followed  its  instructions  strictly,  and  took 
care  to  be  on  the  right  hand  in  the  church,  and  also  that 
the  Intendant  or  civil  officer  should  be  on  the  left.  That 
position  was  filled  by  Marc  Antoine  de  La  Loire  des 
Ursins,  principal  director  for  the  Company  of  the  Indies. 
These  two,  together  with  Michel  Chassin,  commissary 
for  the  Company,  formed  the  Provincial  Council  of  the 
Illinois,  and  speedily  made  Fort  Chartres  the  center  of 
the  civil  government  of  the  colony.  To  this  council 
applications  for  land  were  made,  and  its  members  exe- 
cuted the  grants  upon  which  many  titles  rest  to  this  day. 
Boisbriant,  doubtless  believing  that  he  that  provideth  not 
for  his  own  household  is  worse  than  an  infidel,  had  a 
large  tract  conveyed  to  himself,  beginning  at  the  little 
hill  behind  the  fort.  He  and  his  associates  dispensed 
justice,  regfulated  titles,  and  administered  estates,  and,  in 
fact,  established  the  court,  which,  for  more  than  forty 
years,  decided  the  cases  which  arose  in  the  Illinois 
country,  according  to  the  civil  law.  Their  largest  land 
grant  was  made  in  1723,  to  M.  Renault,  and  comprised  a 
tract  west  of  the  Mississippi,   another,   fifteen   leagues 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  219 

square,  near  the  site  of  Peoria,  and  another  above  Fort 
Chartres,  one  league  along  the  river  and  two  leagues 
deep,  the  latter  to  raise  provisions  for  his  settlements 
among  the  mines.  Of  this  last  tract,  a  large  part  was 
never  sold  by  Renault,  and  to  this  day  the  unconveyed 
portion  is  marked  upon  the  maps  of  Monroe  County, 
Illinois,  as  the  property  of  the  Philip  Renault  heirs. 

About  this  time  word  came  to  the  fort  that  the  faithful 
allies  of  the  French,  the  Illinois  Indians,  who  dwelt  about 
Peoria  Lake,  and  the  Rock  of  St.  Louis,  now  called 
Starved  Rock,  were  hard  pressed  by  their  ancient  ene- 
mies, the  Foxes.  Boisbriant  sent  a  force  to  their  relief 
which  arrived  at  the  close  of  a  contest,  in  which  the 
Foxes  were  defeated,  but  so  greatly  had  the  Illinois 
suffered  that  they  returned  with  the  French  to  the  shelter 
of  the  fort,  leaving  the  route  to  the  settlements  from  the 
north  unprotected.  In  the  year  1725  Bienville,  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Louisiana,  was  summoned  to  France,  and  Com- 
mandant Boisbriant  became  acting  Governor  in  his  stead, 
with  headquarters  at  New  Orleans.  His  old  position  was 
filled  by  M.  De  Siette,  a  captain  in  the  royal  army.  In 
the  parish  register  in  his  administration  appears  the  bap- 
tism of  a  female  savage  of  the  Padoucah  nation,  by  the 
chaplain  at  the  fort,  who  records  with  great  satisfaction 
that  he  performed  the  ceremony,  and  gave  her  the  name 
of  Th^r^se,  but  does  not  say  whether  she  consented,  or 
what  she  thought  about  it.  She  apparently  paid  a  casual 
visit  to  the  fort,  and  he  baptized  her  at  a  venture,  and 
made  haste  to  write  dow^n  another  convert.  The  Fox 
Indians  were  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  De  Siette.  The  way 
by  the  Illinois  River  was  now  open  to  them,  and  their 
war  parties  swooped  upon  the  settlers,  murdering  them 
in  their  fields,  even  within  a  few  miles  of  the  fort.     In 


220     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

great  wrath,  De  Siette  opened  a  correspondence  on  the 
subject  with  De  Lignerie,  the  French  commandant  at 
Green  Bay,  and  proposed  that  the  Fox  tribe  should  be 
exterminated  at  once.  The  calmer  De  Lignerie  replies 
in  substance  that  this  would  be  the  best  possible  expedi- 
ent, provided  the  Foxes  do  not  exterminate  them  in  the 
attempt.  And  he  suggests  a  postponement  of  hostilities 
until  De  Siette  and  himself  could  meet  "at  Chickagau  or 
the  Rock, ' '  and  better  concert  their  plans.  But  soon  the 
French  authorities  adopted  the  views  of  the  commandant 
at  the  Illinois,  and  the  Marquis  de  Beauharnois,  grand- 
father of  the  first  husband  of  the  Empress  Josephine, 
then  commanding  in  Canada,  notified  him  to  join  the 
Canadian  forces  at  Green  Bay,  in  1728,  to  make  war  upon 
the  Foxes.  A  battle  ensued,  in  which  the  Illinois 
Indians,  headed  by  the  French,  were  victorious.  But 
hostilities  continued  until  De  Siette 's  successor,  by  a 
masterly  piece  of  strategy,  waylaid  and  destroyed  so 
many  of  the  persistent  foemen  that  peace  reigned  for  a 
time. 

This  olBficer,  M.  de  St.  Ange  de  Belle  Rive,  who,  as  we 
have  seen,  first  visited  the  Illinois  country  with  Father 
Charlevoix,  had  since  been  stationed  there,  and  made  it 
his  home,  for  the  ancient  title  records  of  this  region  show 
that  in  1729  he  purchased  a  house  in  the  prairie  bounding 
on  one  side  the  road  leading  to  Fort  Chartres.  And  in 
an  old  package  of  stained  and  moldering  papers,  but 
lately  disinterred  from  the  dust  of  at  least  one  century, 
is  the  original  petition  addressed  by  St.  Ange  to  the 
proper  authorities  for  the  confirmation  of  his  title  to  cer- 
tain land,  not  far  from  the  fort,  acquired  "from  a  savage 
named  Chicago,  who  is  contented  and  satisfied  with  the 
payment  made  to  him."     During  his  term  of  office,  in 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  221 

1 731,  the  Royal  India  Company  surrendered  its  charter 
to  the  Crown,  which  thenceforward  had  the  exclusive 
government  of  the  country.  A  few  years  before,  the 
French  warfare  with  the  Natchez  Indians,  that  strange 
tribe  of  sun-worshipers,  probably  of  the  Aztec  race,  had 
resulted  in  the  dispersion  of  the  natives,  some  of  whom 
joined  the  Chickasaws,  who,  under  English  influence, 
kept  up  the  strife.  A  young  officer,  Pierre  d'Artagui- 
ette,  distinguished  himself  so  greatly  in  the  Natchez 
war  that  he  was  appointed  to  the  Illinois  district  in  1 734, 
taking  the  place  of  St.  Ange,  who  was  transferred  to 
another  post.  The  new  commander  was  a  younger 
brother  of  Diron  d'Artaguiette,  a  man  very  prominent 
in  the  early  history  of  Louisiana,  and  his  family  connec- 
tions, his  services  and  virtues,  his  brilliant  career  and 
untimely  death,  have  surrounded  his  name  with  a  halo 
of  romance.  With  pride  and  pleasure  he  received  his 
promotion  to  the  rank  of  major,  and  his  orders  to  take 
command  at  Fort  Chartres.  For  two  years  he  ruled  his 
province  well,  and  then  the  summons  to  the  field  came  to 
him  again.  Bienville  had  resumed  the  governorship 
and  resolved  to  crush  the  Chickasaws.  In  preparation 
for  the  campaign  he  strengthened  all  the  posts,  that  they 
might  better  spare  a  part  of  their  garrisons  for  active 
work.  De  Coulanges,  an  officer  sent  to  Fort  Chartres 
with  a  supply  of  ammunition,  disobeyed  orders,  transport- 
ing merchandise  instead,  leaving  the  powder  at  the 
Arkansas.  A  party  of  D' Artaguiette's  men  going  after  it 
was  routed  by  the  Chickasaws.  "For  this,"  Bienville 
says,  "I  have  ordered  D'Artaguiette  to  imprison  De 
Coulanges  for  six  months  in  Fort  Chartres.  I  hope  this 
example  will  moderate  the  avidity  for  gain  of  some  of 
our  officers. "     When  everything  was  in  readiness,  D'Ar- 


222     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

taguiette  set  forth  from  Fort  Chartres  with  all  his  force, 
on  a  morning  in  February,  making  a  brave  show  as  the 
fleet  of  bateaux  and  canoes  floated  down  the  Mississippi. 
This  first  invasion  of  southern  soil  by  soldiers  from  Illi- 
nois, comprised  nearly  all  of  the  garrison  of  the  fort,  a 
company  of  volunteers  from  the  French  villages,  almost 
the  whole  of  the  Kaskaskia  tribe,  and  a  throng  of  Indian 
warriors  who  had  flocked  to  the  standard  even  from  the 
far-away  Detroit.  Chicago  led  the  Illinois  and  the 
Miamis,  and  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  the  Chevalier 
Vinsenne  joined  the  expedition,  with  the  garrison  from 
the  post  on  the  Wabash,  and  a  number  of  Indians,  includ- 
ing a  party  of  Iroquois  braves.  Landing,  and  marching 
inland,  they  reached  the  Chickasaw  villages  at  the 
appointed  time,  but  the  troops  from  New  Orleans,  who 
were  to  meet  them  there,  failed  to  appear.  Compelled 
to  fight  or  retreat,  D'Ar taguiette  chose  the  former,  and 
was  at  first  successful,  but  the  tide  turned,  when  he  fell, 
covered  with  wounds.  De  Coulanges,  released  from  dur- 
ance that  he  might  redeem  his  fame,  and  many  other  offi- 
cers, were  slain,  most  of  the  Indians  fled,  and  D'Artagui- 
ette,  Vinsenne,  the  Jesuit  Senat,  and  young  St.  Ange, 
son  of  the  Illinois  commandant,  were  taken  prisoners  by 
the  unconquered  Chickasaws,  who  burned  them  at  the 
stake,  and  triumphantly  marched  to  the  Georgia  coast  to 
tell  their  English  allies  there  of  the  French  defeat.  The 
broken  remnants  of  the  little  army,  under  the  leadership 
of  a  boy  of  sixteen,  pursued  by  the  savages  for  five  and 
twenty  leagues,  regained  the  river,  and  slowly  and  sadly 
returned  to  th6  fort.  On  the  sorrow  caused  there  by  the 
mournful  news,  the  masses  that  were  said  in  the  little 
church  for  the  repose  of  the  souls  of  the  slain,  and  the 
deep  grief  felt  throughout  the  country  of  the  Illinois,  in 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  223 

cabin  and  wigwam  alike,  we  will  not  dwell.  The 
impression  made  by  the  life  and  death  of  D'Artagiiiette 
was  so  abiding,  that  his  name  remained  a  household  word 
among  the  French  for  years;  and  well  into  the  present 
century  the  favorite  song  among  the  negroes  along  the 
Mississippi  was  one  of  which  the  oft-repeated  chorus  ran : 

"  In  the  da^'S  of  D'Artaguiette,  Ho!  Ho! 
In  the  days  of  D'Artaguiette,  O  ho!  " 

Three  years  later  La  Buissoniere,  who  succeeded  him, 
led  an  expedition  from  Fort  Chartres,  composed  of 
Frenchmen  and  natives,  to  take  part  in  another  campaign 
against  the  dauntless  Chickasaws.  Soldiers  from  Quebec 
and  Montreal,  with  recruits  from  all  the  tribes  along  their 
route,  overtook  him  on  the  way,  and  the  northern  forces 
joined  the  troops  under  Bienville,  newly  reinforced  from 
Paris,  ne^r  the  site  of  the  city  of  Memphis.  The  domin- 
ions of  the  King  of  France,  in  the  Old  World  and  the 
New,  were  laid  under  contribution  to  concentrate  this 
army  at  the  rendezvous,  but  not  a  blow  was  struck. 
White  and  red  men  lay  in  camp  for  months,  apparently 
unwilling  to  risk  an  encounter,  and  at  length  a  dubious 
peace  was  arranged,  and  all  marched  home  again,  with- 
out loss  or  glory.  Hardly  had  the  Fort  Chartres  detach- 
ment returned  when  a  boat;  going  from  New  Orleans  to 
the  Illinois,  was  attacked  by  the  Chickasaws,  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio,  and  all  on  board  were  killed,  save  one 
young  girl.  She  had  recently  arrived  from  France,  and 
was  on  her  way  to  join  her  sister,  the  wife  of  an  oflficer 
at  the  fort.  Escaping  by  a  miracle  to  the  shore,  she  wan- 
dered through  the  woods  for  days,  living  on  herbs,  until, 
sore  spent  and  ready  to  die,  she  chanced  to  reach  an  ele- 
vation from  which  she  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  flag  float- 


224     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

ing  over  Fort  Chartres,  and,  with  new  hope  and  strength, 
struggled  onward,  and  came  safely  to  the  friends  who  had 
mourned  for  her  as  dead. 

Among  the  few  original  documents  relating  to  this  pe- 
riod which  are  still  preserved,  is  a  deed  executed  at  Fort 
Chartres  by  Alphonse  de  La  Buissoniere,  commandant  at 
the  Illinois,  and  Madame  Th^r^se  Trudeau,  his  wife. 
During  his  governorship  were ,  the  halcyon  days  of  the 
French  settlers  at  the  Illinois.  The  Indians  were  kept 
in  check,  the  fertile  soil  yielded  bounteous  harvests,  two 
convoys  laden  with  grain  and  provisions,  went  each  year 
to  New  Orleans,  and  lower  Louisiana  became  almost 
entirely  dependent  upon  them  for  supplies.  Other  vil- 
lages had  grown  up  near  the  fort.  Prairie  du  Rocher, 
five  miles  away,  was  situated  upon  a  grant  made  by  the 
India  Company  to  Boisbriant,  and  by  him  transferred  to 
his  nephew,  Langlois,  who  conveyed  it  by  parcels  to  the 
settlers,  reserving  to  himself  certain  seignorial  rights 
according  to  the  customs  of  Paris.  And  Renault,  on  a 
portion  of  his  grant  above  the  fort,  established  the  village 
of  St.  Philippe,  which  became  a  thriving  place.  These  were 
laid  out  after  the  French  manner,  with  Commons  and 
Common  Fields,  still  marked  upon  the  local  maps,  and 
in  some  cases  held  and  used  to  this  day  under  the  provi- 
sions of  these  early  grants.  In  each  of  the  villages  was  a 
chapel,  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  parent  church  of 
Ste.  Anne  of  Fort  Chartres.  To  the  colony  came  scions 
of  noble  families  of  France,  seeking  fame  and  adventure 
in  that  distant  land,  and  their  names  and  titles  appear  at 
length  in  the  old  records  and  parish  registers.  Among 
them  was  Benoist  St.  Clair,  captain  of  a  company 
detached  from  the  marine  service,  who  followed  La  Buis- 
sonifere  in  the  chief  command,  and  held  it  for  a  year  or 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  225 

more.  He  found  little  to  do  in  those  piping  times  of 
peace,  made  an  occasional  gprant  of  land,  and  sought  other 
service  early  in  1742. 

The  Chevalier  de  Bertel,  who  describes  himself  as 
major  commanding  for  the  King,  took  charge  in  his  stead. 
The  parish  register  of  Ste.  Anne,  in  his  time,  is  extant, 
and  the  title  page  of  the  volume,  then  newly  opened, 
bears  the  following  inscription : 

"Numbered  and  initialed  by  us.  Principal  Secretary  of 
the  Marine  and  Civil  Judge  at  the  Illinois,  the  present 
book,  containing  seventy-four  leaves,  to  serve  as  a  Reg- 
ister of  the  Parish  of  Ste.  Anne,  of  Baptisms,  Marriages, 
and  Deaths.  Done  at  Fort  Chartres  the  ist  of  August, 
1743- 

"Chevalier  de  Bertel,  "De  la  Loire, 

"Major  Commandant.  "Flancour." 

The  pages  which  remain,  by  their  careful  numbering 
and  joint  initials,  show  how  important  it  was  deemed  to 
preserve  and  identify  this  register.  It  was  soon  to  con- 
tain the  record  of  the  sudden  death  of  Flancour  himself, 
the  civil  judge  at  the  Illinois.  One  of  his  last  acts  was 
to  grant  to  the  village  of  Prairie  du  Rocher,  a  tract  of 
land  for  commons,  from  which  it  now  derives  a  revenue. 
And  with  Bertel  he  executed  a  deed  to  a  young  man  at 
St.  Philippe,  for  the  reason  that  he  was  the  first  one  born 
in  Illinois  to  marry  and  settle  himself.  And  to  another, 
who  asked  the  gift  of  a  farm,  because  he  had  seven  chil- 
dren, they  granted  a  tract  of  land  for  each  child.  Ren- 
ault made  his  last  conveyance  of  a  lot  at  St.  Philippe  by 
deed,  executed  in  his  rooms  at  Fort  Chartres,  September 
2,  1740,  and,  three  years  later,  returned  to  Paris,  after 
a  residence  in  the  Illinois  country  of  nearly  a  quarter  of 


226     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

a  century.  In  the  same  season,  Governor  Bienville  went 
to  France,  finally  resigning  his  trust  to  the  Marquis  de 
Vaudreuil.  And  here  a  word  may  be  spoken  of  the  first 
royal  Governor  of  the  province,  of  which  Illinois  was  a 
part,  and  in  whose  administration  Fort  Chartres  was  con- 
structed. Le  Moyne  de  Bienville,  a  Canadian  born,  was 
one  of  an  illustrious  family.  His  father  was  killed  in 
battle  in  the  service  of  his  country,  seven  of  his  brothers 
died  naval  officers,  and  of  the  three  others,  then  surviv- 
ing, one  was  Governor  of  Montreal,  one  captain  of  a  ship 
of  the  line,  and  one  a  naval  ensign.  He  distinguished 
himself  at  the  capture  of  Port  Nelson  from  the  English, 
and  in  a  brilliant  naval  engagement  in  Hudson's  Bay; 
was  one  of  the  founders  of  Louisiana ;  and  chose  the  site 
of  the  city  of  New  Orleans.  He  served  as  Lieutenant- 
Governor  and  Governor  of  the  province  for  nearly  forty 
years,  and  won  the  reputation  of  being  the  bravest  and 
best  man  in  the  colony.  His  portrait,  which  adorns  the 
mansion,  at  Longueil,  in  Canada,  of  Baron  Grant,  the 
representative  of  the  family,  shows  a  martial  figure,  and 
a  noble  face,  in  keeping  with  his  record ;  and  his  intimate 
connection  with  its  early  history  would  make  it  fitting  to 
preserve  a  copy  of  this  original  in  the  State  of  Illinois. 

The  Chevalier  de  Bertel  had  a  difficult  part  to  play. 
France  and  England  were  at  war,  because  Frederick  the 
Great  and  Maria  Theresa  could  not  agree,  and  this  dis- 
turbed the  settlements  at  the  Illinois.  Some  English- 
men, found  on  the  Mississippi,  were  arrested  as  spies, 
and  confined  in  the  dungeon  at  Fort  Chartres,  and  whis- 
pers of  an  English  attack  were  in  the  air.  The  fort  was 
out  of  repair,  and  poorly  supplied,  and  a  number  of  its 
soldiers,  tiring  of  the  confinement  of  the  garrison, 
deserted,  to  try  the  free  life  of  the  woods  and  prairies. 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  227 

The  old-time  Indian  allies  were  won  over  by  the  British, 
and  agreed  to  destroy  the  French  post  during  the  moon  of 
the  fall  of  the  leaf,  but  they  were  thwarted  by  the  skill 
and  address  of  De  Bertel.  Many  anxious  thoughts  he  had 
as  he  paced  the  enclosure  of  Fort  Chartres,  and  many  an 
earnest  epistle  he  addressed  to  his  superior  officers,  assur- 
ing them  that  it  was  only  by  great  good  fortune  that  he 
could  hold  his  post,  which  must  be  reenforced  and 
strengthened.  The  abandonment  of  the  fort  was  at  one 
time  contemplated.  This  plan,  however,  was  given  up 
when  the  Marquis  de  Galissoniere,  Governor-General  of 
Canada,  presented  a  memorial  on  the  subject  to  the  home 
government.  He  says,  "The  little  colony  of  Illinois 
ought  not  to  be  left  to  perish.  The  King  must  sacrifice 
for  its  support.  The  principal  advantage  of  the  country 
is  its  extreme  productiveness,  and  its  connection  with 
Canada  and  Louisiana  must  be  maintained."  The  peace 
of  Aix  la  Chapelle  came  in  time  to  give  both  parties  a 
breathing  space,  in  which  to  prepare  for  the  sterner  con- 
test soon  to  follow.  Chevalier  de  Bertel,  knowing  th,at 
his  wise  counsels  had  borne  fruit,  transferred  the  com- 
mand again  to  Benoist  St.  Clair,  who  signalized  his  return 
by  wedding  the  daughter  of  a  citizen  of  Kaskaskia,  in 
January,  1750.  The  same  year  De  Galissoniere  once 
more  urged  upon  the  King  the  importance  of  preserving 
and  strengthening  the  post  at  the  Illinois,  describing  the 
country  as  open  and  ready  for  the  plough,  and  traversed 
by  an  innumerable  multitude  of  buffaloes.  "And  these 
animals,"  he  says,  "are  covered  with  a  species  of  wool, 
sufficiently  fine  to  be  employed  in  various  manufacto- 
ries!" And  he  further  suggests,  and,  doubtless,  correctly, 
that  "the  buffalo,  if  caught  and  attached  to  the  plow, would 
move  it  at  a  speed  superior  to  that  of  the  domestic  ox!" 


228     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

In  the  succeeding  autumn  the  Chevalier  de  Makarty,  a 
major  of  engineers,  with  a  few  companies  of  troops, 
arrived  from  France,  under  orders  to  rebuild  the  citadel 
of  the  Illinois  country.  Other  detachments  followed,  until 
nearly  a  full  regiment  of  French  grenadiers  answered 
to  the  roll-call  at  Fort  Chartres.  They  toiled  busily 
to  transform  it  from  a  fortress  of  wood  to  one  of  stone, 
under  the  skillful  guidance  of  the  trained  ofl&cer,  whose 
Irish  blood,  as  well  as  his  French  commission,  made  hos- 
tile preparations  against  Britain  a  labor  of  love  to  him. 
You  may  see,  to  this  day,  the  place  in  the  bluffs  to  the 
eastward  of  the  fort,  where  they  quarried  the  huge 
blocks,  which  they  carried  in  boats  across  the  little  lake 
lying  between.  The  finer  stone,  with  which  the  gateways 
and  buildings  were  faced,  was  brought  from  beyond  the 
Mississippi.  A  million  of  crowns  seemed  to  the  King  of 
France  but  a  reasonable  expense  for  this  work  of  recon- 
struction, which  was  to  secure  his  empire  in  the  West. 
And  hardly  was  it  completed  when  the  contest  began,  and 
the  garrison  of  Fort  Chartres  had  a  hand  in  the  opening 
struggle.  In  May,  1754,  the  young  George  Washington, 
with  his  Virginia  riflemen,  surprised  the  party  of  Jumon- 
ville  at  the  Great  Meadows,  and  slew  the  French  leader. 
His  brother,  Neyon  de  Villiers,  one  of  the  captains  at 
Fort  Chartres,  obtained  leave  from  Makarty  to  avenge 
him,  and  with  his  company  went  by  the  Mississippi  and 
the  Ohio  to  Fort  du  Quesne,  where  he  joined  the  head  of 
the  family,  Coulon  de  Villiers,  who  was  marching  on  the 
same  errand.  Together,  with  "  a  force  as  numerous," 
said  the  Indians,  "  as  the  pigeons  in  the  woods,"  they 
brought  to  bay  "Monsieur  de  Wachenston, "  as  the 
French  dispatches  call  him,  at  Fort  Necessity,  which  he 
surrendered  on  the  4th  of  July.      The  capture  of  this 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  229 

place  by  the  French  is  one  of  the  causes  assigned  by 
George  the  Second  for  the  declaration  of  hostilities  by 
Britain ;  and  thus  the  Old  French  War  began.  The  little 
detachment,  with  its  bold  leader,  returned,  flushed  with 
victory,  to  celebrate,  at  Fort  Chartres,  the  triumph  of 
Illinois  over  Virginia.  Soon  the  demands  upon  this  post 
for  supplies  and  men  grew  constant,  and  the  veteran 
Makarty  labored  steadily  to  keep  pace  with  them.  The 
commandant  at  Fort  du  Quesne,  whose  communications 
with  Canada  were  interrupted  by  the  British,  writes  him : 
"We  are  in  sad  want  of  provisions.  I  send  to  you  for 
flour  and  pork. ' '  The  Governor-General  of  Canada,  in 
an  epistle  to  the  Minister  of  Marine,  observes:  "I  knew 
the  route  from  the  Illinois  was  as  fine  as  could  be  desired. 
Chevalier  de  Villiers,  who  commands  the  escort  of  pro- 
visions from  there,  came  up  with  a  bateau  of  18,000 
weight.  This  makes  known  a  sure  communication  with 
the  Illinois  whence  I  can  derive  succor  in  provisions  and 
men. "  Nor  did  our  garrison  confine  itself  to  commissary 
work.  The  tireless  De  Villiers,  hardly  resting  from  his 
escort  duty,  crossed  the  Alleghenies  with  his  men,  and 
captured  Fort  Granville,  on  the  Juniata.  The  Marquis 
de  Montcalm,  writing  to  the  Minister  of  War,  thus  pleas- 
antly alludes  to  this  little  attention  paid  by  Illinois  to 
Pennsylvania:  "The  news  from  the  Beautiful  River  is 
excellent.  We  continue  to  devastate  Pennsylvania. 
Chevalier  de  Villiers,  brother  of  Jumonville,  who  was 
assassinated  by  the  British,  has  just  burned  Fort  Gran- 
ville, sixty  miles  from  Philadelphia."  The  next  year, 
Aubry,  another  of  the  Fort  Chartres  captains,  was  sent 
by  Makarty,  with  400  men,  to  reenforce  Fort  du  Quesne, 
then  thr.eatened  by  the  British.  The  morning  after  his 
arrival  he  sallied  out  and  routed  Major  Grant  and  his 


230     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

Highlanders,  and,  a  few  days  later,  surprised  the  British 
camp  forty-five  miles  away,  captured  their  horses,  and 
brought  his  party  back  mounted.  Soon,  however,  the 
approach  of  a  superior  force,  with  Washington  and  his 
riflemen  in  the  van,  compelled  the  abandonment  of  Fort 
du  Quesne.  By  the  light  of  its  burning  stockade,  the 
Illinois  troops  sailed  down  the  Beautiful  River,  and  sadly 
returned  to  their  homes. 

The  British  star  was  now  in  the  ascendant,  yet  still  the 
French  struggled  gallantly.  Once  more  the  drum  beat 
to  arms  on  the  parade  ground  at  Fort  Chartres,  at  the 
command  to  march  to  raise  the  siege  of  Fort  Niagara. 
All  the  Illinois  villages  sent  volunteers,  and  Aubry  led 
the  expedition  by  a  devious  route,  joining  the  detach- 
ments from  Detroit  and  Michillimackinac,  on  Lake  Erie. 
As  they  entered  the  Niagara  River  Indian  scouts  reported 
that  they  were  "like  a  floating  island,  so  black  was  the 
stream  with  their  bateaux  and  canoes."  The  desperate 
charge  upon  the  British  lines  failed,  Aubry,  covered  with 
wounds,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  the  bul- 
letin reads,  "Of  the  French  from  the  Illinois,  many  were 
killed  and  many  taken  prisoner. ' '  Despair  and  gloom 
settled  upon  the  fort  and  its  neighborhood,  when  the  sor- 
rowful news  came  back.  Makarty  writes  to  the  Gov- 
emor-Greneral:  "The  defeat  at  Niagara  has  cost  me  the 
flower  of  my  men.  My  garrison  is  weaker  than  ever. 
The  British  are  building  bateaux  at  Pittsburg.  I  have 
made  all  arrangements,  according  to  my  strength  to 
receive  the  enemy. '  *  And  the  Governor-General  replies, 
"I  strongly  recommend  you  to  be  on  your  guard," 
The  surrender,  at  Montreal,  of  the  Canadas,  fol- 
lowed upon  the  victory  on  the  plains  of  Abraham,  but 
still  the  Illinois  held  out  for  the  King.     Neyon  de  Vil- 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  231 

liers  received  his  well-earned  promotion,  and  assumed 
command  at  Fort  Chartres.  And  the  fine  old  soldier, 
Makarty,  doubtless  regretting  that  he  had  not  had  the 
opportunity  to  test  the  strength  of  the  goodly  stone  walls 
he  had  builded,  sheathed  his  sword,  twirled  his  mus- 
tache, made  his  bow,  and  departed. 

The  village  at  the  fort  gate,  which,  after  the  rebuild- 
ing, was  called  New  Chartres,  had  become  a  well-estab- 
lished community.  The  title  records  quaintly  illustrate 
its  ways  of  transacting  business,  as  when,  for  instance,  the 
royal  notary  at  the  Illinois  declares  that  he  made  a  cer- 
tain public  sale  in  the  forenoon  of  Sunday,  after  the  great 
parochial  mass  of  Ste.  Anne  of  New  Chartres,  at  the  main 
door  of  the  church,  offering  the  property  in  a  high  and 
audible  voice,  while  the  people  were  going  out  in  great 
numbers  from  said  church.  And  the  parish  register, 
which,  briefly  and  drily,  notes  the  marriages  of  the  com- 
mon people,  spares  neither  space  nor  words  in  the  record 
of  the  weddings  in  the  families  of  the  officers  at  the  fort 
When  Jean  la  Freil€  de  Vidrinne,  officer  of  a  company, 
is  married  to  Elizabeth  de  Moncharveaux,  daughter  of 
Jean  Frangois  Livernon  de  Moncharveaux,  captain  of  a 
company,  and  when  the  Monsieur  Andr6  Chevalier,  royal 
solicitor  and  treasurer  for  the  King  at  the  country  of  the 
Illinois,  weds  Madeleine  Loisel,  names  and  titles,  and 
ancestry  are  set  forth  at  length,  and  Makarty,  the  com- 
mandant, Buchet,  the  principal  writer,  Du  Barry,  a  lieu- 
tenant, all  the  dignitaries  of  fort  and  village,  and  all  the 
relatives,  subscribe  the  register  as  witnesses.  The  ladies 
sign  with  a  careful  deliberation,  indicating  that  penman- 
ship was  not  one  of  their  recreations ;  the  gentlemen  with 
flourishes  so  elaborate  that  they  seem  to  have  been 
hardly  able  to  bring  them  to  a  close.      These   entries 


232     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

appear  in  a  separate  volume,  the  last  in  date  of  the  par- 
ish books,  entitled;  "Register  of  the  Marriages  made  in 
the  Parish  of  Ste.  Anne,  containing  seventeen  sheets,  or 
sixty-eight  pages,  numbered  and  initialed  by  Mr.  Buchet, 
principal  writer  and  judge."  (Signed)  Buchet.  And  in 
the  Baptismal  register  of  the  chapel  of  St.  Joseph,  at 
Prairie  du  Rocher,  appears  an  entry  which  has  a  strangely 
familiar  sound.  For  it  recites  that  several  persons,  adults 
and  children,  were  baptized  together,  in  the  "presence  of 
theii  parents,  brothers,  uncles,  mutual  friends,  their  sis- 
ters, their  cousins,  and  their  aunts."  This,  palpably,  is 
the  germ  of  "Pinafore,"  which  Illinois  may  therefore 
take  the  credit  of  originating,  long  before  our  era ! 

New  Chartres,  and  the  other  villages  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  the  fort,  rested  secure  in  the  belief  that, 
although  Canada  had  surrendered,  Louisiana,  with  the 
Illinois  country,  would  still  be  preserved  by  the  King, 
who  might  thence  reconquer  his  lost  possessions.  Hence, 
like  a  thunder-clap,  came  the  news  that  on  the  loth  of 
February,  1763,  Louis  XV  had  ratified  the  treaty  trans- 
ferring them  to  the  British  government.  The  aged  Bien- 
ville, then  living  in  Paris,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  begged 
that  the  colony,  to  which  he  had  given  the  best  years  of 
his  life,  might  be  spared  to  France,  but  in  vain.  With  a 
stroke  of  his  pen  the  weak  King  ceded  to  Great  Britain 
the  Canadas,  the  Illinois,  and  all  the  valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi east  of  the  river.  While  at  Fort  Chartres  they  were 
in  daily  expectation  of  news  of  the  coming  of  British 
I  troops  to  take  possession,  an  expedition  arrived  from 
!  New  Orleans  to  settle  at  the  Illinois.  It  was  headed  by 
Pierre  Laclede,  the  representative  of  a  company  of  mer- 
chants engaged  in  the  fur  trade.  Learning  here  of  the 
!  treaty  of  cession,  he  at  once  decided  to  establish  a  new 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  233 

post  in  the  territory,  west  of  the  Mississippi,  supposed  to 
be  still  French  ground,  Neyon  de  Villiers  permitted  him 
to  store  his  goods  and  quarter  his  company  at  the  fort, 
and  Laclede,  after  an  exploring  tour,  selected  a  fine 
bluff,  sixty  miles  to  the  northward,  for  the  site  of  his 
colony.  He  foresaw  something  of  its  future  importance, 
and,  returning  to  Fort  Chartres  for  the  winter,  discoursed 
with  enthusiasm  upon  its  prospects,  and  took  possession 
in  the  spring.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  city  of  St. 
Louis.  Many  of  the  French  from  the  Illinois  followed 
him,  even  transporting  their  houses  to  the  other  shore, 
so  great  was  their  desire  to  live  under  their  own  flag. 
And  terrible  was  their  disappointment  when  the  secret 
treaty  with  Spain  was  made  known,  by  which  their  faith- 
less King  ceded  all  his  dominions  beyond  the  Mississippi 
to  the  nation  which  had  so  long  disputed  with  France  her 
foothold  there.  Many  more  of  the  unhappy  colonists- 
descended  the  Mississippi,  with  Neyon  de  Villiers,  in  the 
belief  that  lower  Louisiana  was  to  remain  under  French 
control,  and  that  their  condition  would  be  bettered  there, 
only  to  be  bitterly  disappointed.  Those  who  remained  * 
felt  their  hopes  revive,  as  time  passed  on  and  the  red- 
coats came  not. 

The  veteran  St.  Ange,  who  had  returned  from  Vin- 
cennes  to  play  the  last  sad  act  of  the  drama,  with  a  little 
garrison  of  forty  men,  still  held  the  fort,  although  it  was  ; 
the  only  place  in  North  America  at  which  the  white  flag 
of  the  Bourbons  was  flying.  All  else  had  been  ceded 
and  surrendered,  but  the  way  to  the  west  was  not  yet 
open,  for  Pontiac  was  a  lion  in  the  path.  The  British 
victory  was  not  complete  until  that  flag  was  lowered,  and 
repeated  efforts  to  accomplish  this  were  made.  Again 
and  again  were  they  thwarted  by  the  Forest  Chieftain. 


234     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

Major  Loftus,  ascending  the  Mississippi  with  a  force  to 
take  possession  of  Fort  Chartres,  was  greeted  with  a  vol- 
ley at  the  bluffs,  still  called  Loftus'  Heights,  and 
retreated  to  Pensacola.  Captain  Pittman,  seeking  to  find 
his  way  from  Mobile  in  the  guise  of  a  trader,  gave  up 
the  attempt  as  too  hazardous.  Captain  Morris,  sent 
from  Detroit  to  arrange  for  the  surrender  of  the  fort,  was 
met  by  Pontiac,  who,  squatting  in  front  of  him,  opened 
the  interview  by  observing  that  the  British  were  liars, 
and  asked  if  he  had  come  to  lie  to « them  like  the  rest. 
Attentions  much  less  courteous  were  received  from  indi- 
viduals of  the  Kickapoo  persuasion,  and  Morris  turned 
back,  while  still  several  hundred  miles  from  his  destina- 
tion. Lieutenant  Frazer,  pushing  down  the  Ohio,  reached 
Kaskaskia,  where  he  fell  into  Pontiac 's  hands,  who  kept 
him  all  one  night  in  dread  of  being  boiled  alive,  and  at 
daybreak  shipped  him  to  New  Orleans  by  canoe  express, 
with  the  cheerful  information  that  the  kettle  was  boiling 
over  a  large  fire  to  receive  any  other  Englishmen  who 
came  that  way.  Frazer  could  only  console  himself  for 
his  otherwise  fruitless  voyage  down  both  the  Ohio  and 
the  Mississippi,  with  the  thought  that  he  had  been  nearer 
to  the  objective  point  than  any  other  officer,  and  had  seen 
a  great  deal  of  the  country.  George  Croghan,  Sir  Wil- 
liam Johnson's  interpreter,  following  Frazer  on  the  same 
errand,  was  wa5^1aid  by  the  Shawnees  on  the  Ohio  and 
sent  to  the  Indian  villages  on  the  Wabash,  whence  he 
took  Morris'  route  to  Detroit.  The  French  and  Spanish 
officers  in  Louisiana  laughed  at  the  British  failures  to 
reach  a  fort  they  claimed  to  own,  and  suggested  that  an 
important  party  had  been  omitted  in  the  treaty  of  cession, 
and  that  a  new  one  should  be  made  with  King  Pontiac. 
Meanwhile  that  sovereign  was  ordering  into  service  some 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  235 

Illinois  Indians,  assembled  near  Fort  Chartres,  and  when 
they  showed  a  reluctance  to  engage  in  hostilities  against 
their  new  rulers,  said  to  them :  "Hesitate  not,  or  I  destroy 
you  as  fire  does  the  prairie  grass.  Listen,  and  recollect 
these  are  the  words  of  Pontiac!"  Their  scruples  vanished 
with  amazing  rapidity,  and  they  did  his  bidding.  Then 
with  his  retinue  of  dusky  warriors,  he  led  the  way 
through  the  tall  gateway  of  Fort  Chartres,  and  greeting 
St.  Ange,  as  he  sat  in  the  government  house,  said; 
"Father,  I  have  long  wished  to  see  thee,  to  recall  the  bat- 
tles which  we  fought  together  against  the  misguided  In- 
dians and  the  English  dogs.  I  love  the  French,  and  I  have 
come  here  with  my  warriors  to  avenge  their  wrongs. ' ' 
But  St.  Ange  plainly  told  him  that  all  was  over;  Onontio, 
their  great  French  father,  could  do  no  more  for  his  red 
children ;  he  was  beyond  the  sea  and  could  not  hear  their 
voices;  and  they  must  make  peace  with  the  English. 
Pontiac,  at  last  convinced,  gave  up  the  contest,  and  made 
no  opposition  to  the  approach  from  Fort  Pitt,  by  the 
Ohio,  of  a  detachment  of  the  426.  Highlanders,  the  famous 
Black  Watch,  under  Captain  Stirling,  to  whom  St.  Ange 
formally  surrendered  the  fort  on  the  2d  of  October,  1765. 
The  lilies  of  France  gave  place  to  the  red  cross  of  St. 
George,  and  the  long  struggle  was  ended.  At  Fort 
Chartres  the  great  empire  of  France  in  the  New  World 
ceased  forever. 

The  minute  of  the  surrender  of  Fort  Chartres  to  M. 
Sterling,  appointed  by  M.  de  Gage,  Governor  of  New 
York,  Commander  of  His  Britannic  Majesty's  troops  in 
North  America,  is  preserved  in  the  French  archives  at 
Paris.  The  fort  is  carefully  described  in  it,  with  its 
arched  gateway,  fifteen  feet  high ;  a  cut-stone  platform 
above  the  gate,  with  a  stair  of  nineteen  stone  steps,  hav- 


236     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

ing  a  stone  balustrade,  leading  to  it ;  its  walls  of  stone 
eighteen  feet  in  height ;  and  its  four  bastions,  each  with 
forty-eight  loopholes,  eight  embrasures,  and  a  sentry  box, 
the  whole  in  cut  stone.  And  within,  the  great  store- 
house, ninety  feet  long  by  thirty  wide,  two  stories  high, 
and  gable-roofed;  the  guardhouse  having  two  rooms 
above  for  the  chapel  and  missionary  quarters:  the  gov- 
ernment house,  84x32,  with  iron  gates  and  a  stone  porch, 
a  coach  house  and  pigeon  house  adjoining,  and  a  large 
stone  well  inside ;  the  intendant's  house,  of  stone  and  iron, 
with  a  portico;  the  two  rows  of  barracks,  each  128  feet 
long;  the  magazine,  thirty-five  feet  wide,  thirty-eight 
feet  long,  and  thirteen  feet  high  above  the  ground,  with 
a  doorway  of  cut  stone,  and  two  doors,  one  of  wood  and 
one  of  iron ;  the  bake  house,  with  two  ovens,  and  a  stone 
well  in  front ;  the  prison  with  four  cells  of  cut  stone,  and 
iron  doors ;  and  one  large  relief  gate  to  the  north ;  the 
whole  enclosing  an  area  of  more  than  four  acres.  The 
English  had  insisted  that,  under  the  treaty  of  cession,  the 
guns  in  all  the  forts  belonged  to  them.  The  French 
Governor  of  Louisiana  disputed  the  claim,  but  consented 
to  leave  those  at  the  Illinois,  with  a  promise  of  their 
restoration  if  his  view  proved  correct.  Hence  the  can- 
non of  Fort  Chartres  were  transferred  with  it,  for  the 
time  at  least. 

St.  Ange  and  his  men  took  boat  for  St.  Louis,  where, 
feeling  that  their  sovereign  had  utterly  deserted  them, 
they  soon  decided  to  exchange  the  service  of  His  Most 
Christian  Majesty  of  France,  for  that  of  His  Most  Catholic 
Majesty  of  Spain.  They  were  speedily  enrolled  in  the 
garrison  of  St.  Louis,  of  which  St.  Ange  was  appointed 
to  the  command,  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  his  comrades 
and  his  old  neighbors  from  the  Illinois.     One  tragedy 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  237 

signalized  the  accession  of  the  new  government  at  Fort 
Chartres.  Two  young  officers,  one  French  and  the  other 
English,  were  rival  suitors  for  the  hand  of  a  young  lady 
in  the  neighborhood,  and  a  quarrel  arose  which  led  to  a 
duel.  They  fought  with  small-swords  early  on  a  Sunday 
morning,  near  the  fort;  the  Englishman  was  slain,  and 
the  Frenchman  made  haste  to  descend  the  river  to  New 
Orleans.  The  story  of  this,  no  doubt  the  first  duel  fought 
in  Illinois,  was  related,  nearly  forty  years  after  its  occur- 
rence, by  an  aged  Frenchman,  who  was  an  eye-witness 
of  the  combat,  to  the  chronicler  who  has  preserved  the 
account.  With  the  departure  of  the  French  soldiers,  the 
last  spark  of  life  in  the  village  of  New  Chartres  went  out. 
On  the  register,  then  in  use  in  the  church  of  Ste.  Anne, 
was  written;  "The  above-mentioned  church  (parochial  of 
Ste.  Anne  of  New  Chartres)  having  been  abolished,  the 
rest  of  the  paper  which  was  in  this  book  has  been  taken 
for  the  service  of  the  church  at  Kaskaskia. ' '  And  the 
Mississippi,  as  if  bent  upon  destroying  every  vestige  of 
the  once  happy  and  prosperous  village,  encroached  upon 
its  site  until  a  large  portion  of  it  was  swept  away. 
Shortly  after  its  abandonment  the  parish  register  of  Prai- 
rie du  Rocher,  which  place  continued  to  be  occupied  by 
the  French,  records  the  removal  of  the  bodies  of  the  Rev- 
erend Fathers  Gagnon  and  Collet,  priests  of  Ste.  Anne  of 
New  Chartres,  from  the  ruined  cemetery  near  that  church 
on  the  point  in  the  river,  and  their  burial  in  the  chapel  of 
St.  Joseph,  at  Prairie  du  Rocher. 

The  Illinois  had  now  become  a  British  colony,  "in  the 
days  when  George  the  Third  was  King. ' '  The  simple 
French  inhabitants  with  difficulty  accustomed  themselves 
to  the  change,  and  longed  for  the  paternal  sway  of  the 
commanders  of  their  own  race.     It  is  said  that  soon  after 


238     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

the  British  occupation  the  officer  in  authority  at  Fort 
Chartres  died  suddenly,  and  there  being  no  one  compe- 
tent to  succeed  him,  the  wheels  of  government  stopped. 
And  that  St.  Ange,  hearing  at  St.  Louis  of  the  confusion 
in  his  old  province,  repaired  to  Fort  Chartres,  restored 
order,  and  remained  there  until  another  British  officer 
could  reach  the  spot.  The  story  is  typical  of  the  man, 
who  deserves  a  wider  fame  than  he  has  won.  For  he  was 
a  fine  exemplar  of  the  fidelity,  the  courage,  and  the  true 
gentleness,  which  are  worthy  of  the  highest  honor.  He 
spent  a  long  life  in  the  arduous  duties  of  a  frontier  offi- 
cer, commanding  escorts  through  the  wilderness,  sta- 
tioned at  the  different  posts  in  the  Northwest  in  turn, 
and  for  more  than  fifty  years  associated  with  the  Illinois 
country,  which  became  the  home  of  his  family.  Bom  in 
Canada,  and  entering  the  French  army  as  a  boy,  he  grew 
gray  in  the  service,  and  when  surrendered  to  the  foeman 
he  had  so  long  opposed,  by  the  unworthy  King,  who  made 
no  provision  for  the  men  who  had  stood  so  steadfastly  for 
him,  he  was  more  faithful  to  France  than  Louis  XV  had 
been.  For  his  removal  to  St.  Louis,  and  acceptance  of  a 
Spanish  commission,  were  in  the  interest  and  for  the  pro- 
tection of  his  misled  countrymen,  who  had  settled  at  that 
place  solely  that  they  might  still  be  French  subjects. 
There  he  remained,  the  patriarch  of  the  infant  settle- 
ment, beloved  and  honored  by  all,  until  his  death,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-six,  in  the  year  of  the  commencement  of 
our  revolution.  And  all  who  knew  him,  friends  and  foes, 
countrymen  and  foreigners,  white  men  and  red,  alike 
bear  testimony  to  the  uprightness,  the  steady  fortitude, 
the  unshrinking  courage,  the  kindliness  and  nobility  of 
Louis  St.  Ange  de  Belle  Rive,  the  last  French  Command- 
ant of  the  Illinois. 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  239 

In  December  of  the  year  of  the  surrender,  Major 
Farmer,  with  a  strong  detachment  of  the  34th  British 
Foot,  arrived  at  the  fort  from  Mobile  and  took  command. 
The  following  year  he  was  relieved  by  Colonel  Edward 
Cole,  a  native  of  Rhode  Island,  an  officer  in  the  Old 
French  War,  who  commanded  a  regiment  tinder  General 
Wolfe  at  the  siege  of  Quebec,  and  was  at  the  capture  of 
Havana  by  the  Earl  of  Albemarle.  In  letters  written 
from  the  fort  in  1766  to  1768,  to  his  old  comrade  and 
partner  in  business.  Col.  Henry  Van  Schaick,  he  says: 
"This  country  is  far  from  answering  my  expectations  in 
any  other  point  than  the  soil.  I  have  enjoyed  but  a  small 
share  of  health  since  I  arrived.  I  have  been  much 
deceived  in  the  description  of  this  country,  and  am  deter- 
mined to  quit  it  as  soon  as  I  can.  No  comfort.  Indians 
eternally  about  me."  During  his  term  of  office  Captain 
Philip  Pittman,  a  British  engineer  officer,  the  same  who 
had  unsuccessfully  endeavored  to  reach  the  Illinois  dur- 
ing Pontiac's  rule,  visited  the  fort  in  pursuance  of  his 
orders  to  examine  the  British  posts  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley.  In  his  report  he  says:  "The  walls  of  Fort  Char-< 
tres  are  two  feet  two  inches  thick,  and  the  entrance  is 
through  a  very  handsome  gate."  He  describes  the  works 
and  buildings  very  fully,  and  concludes  as  follows:  "It 
is  generally  believed  that  this  is  the  most  convenient  and 
best  built  fort  in  North  America."  In  1768  ^olonel  Cole 
was  followed  by  a  Colonel  Reed,  who  became  so  noto- 
rious for  his  oppression  of  the  people,  that  he  was  speedily 
relieved  by  John  Wilkins,  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  i8th 
or  Royal  Irish,  the  former  commander  of  Fort  Niagara, 
who  reached  the  Illinois  with  seven  companies  of  his  reg- 
iment from  Philadelphia,  by  way  of  Pittsburg,  in 
September,  1768.     From  the  correspondence  of  Ensign 


240     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

George  Butricke,  an  officer  in  this  expedition,  we  learn 
that,  on  their  way  down  the  Ohio,  they  killed  so  many 
buifalo  that  they  commonly  served  out  one  a  day  to  each 
company,  and  they  were  forty-three  days  on  the  way  from 
Pittsburg  to  Kaskaskia.  Speaking  of  Fort  Chartres  as 
"built  of  stone,  with  bastions  at  each  angle,  and  very 
good  barracks  of  stone, ' '  he  describes  the  land  around  it  as 
the  finest  in  the  known  world,  and  gives  his  opinion  to  the 
effect  that  "it  is  a  shocking  unhealthy  country. "  Colo- 
nel Wilkins,  under  a  proclamation  from  General  Gage, 
established  a  court  of  law,  with  seven  judges,  to  sit  at 
Fort  Chartres,  and  administer  the  law  of  England,  the 
first  court  of  common-law  jurisdiction  west  of  the  Alleghen- 
ies.  The  old  French  court  of  the  royal  jurisdiction  of  the 
Illinois,  with  its  single  judge,  governed  by  the  civil  law, 
had  ceased  with  the  surrender.  Its  records  for  many 
years  were  preserved  at  Kaskaskia,  where  the  late  Judge 
Breese  saw  and  made  extracts  from  them.  When  the 
county-seat  was  removed,  less  care  was  taken  of  them, 
and  within  a  few  years  past  these  documents,  so  interest- 
ing and  valuable  to  the  antiquarian  and  the  historian, 
have  been  used  by  veritable  Illinois  Vandals  to  light  the 
fires  in  a  country  courthouse,  and  but  a  solitary  fragment 
now  remains.  In  Wilkins'  time,  that  famous  warrior, 
Pontiac,  was  basely  slain  at  Cahokia,  by  an  Illinois 
Indian.  St.  Ange,  then  commanding  at  St.  Louis,  honor- 
ing the  noble  red  man,  whom  he  had  known  long  and 
well,  brought  the  body  to  his  fort  and  gave  it  solemn  bur- 
ial. The  friends  of  Pontiac,  avenging  his  death,  pursued 
one  fragment  of  the  Illinois  tribe  to  the  walls  of  Fort 
Chartfes,  and  slew  many  there,  the  British  refusing  them 
admission^  At  Prairie  du  Rocher,  about  this  period,  is 
recorded  the  marriage  of  a  French  soldier,  of  the  garrison 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  241 

of  St.  Louis,  with  the  written  permission  of  M.  de  St. 
Ange,his  commander,  to  an  Englishwoman  from  Salisbury, 
in  Wiltshire,  which  the  good  priest  writes,  "Solbary,  in 
the  province  of  Wuilser. "  It  is  significant  of  the  differ- 
ent races  and  the  varying  sovereignties  in  that  portion  of 
our  country,  that  a  French  soldier,  from  the  Spanish  city 
of  St.  Louis,  should  be  married  to  an  Englishwoman  by  a 
French  priest,  in  the  British  colony  of  Illinois. 

The  occupation  of  Fort  Chartres,  however,  by  the  sol- 
diers of  any  nation,  was  drawing  to  a  close.  For  seven 
years  only  the  British  ruled  there,  though,  doubtless, 
believing  it  to  be  their  permanent  headquarters  for  the 
whole  Northwest.  But  the  Mississippi  had  ever  been  a 
French  river,  and  could  not  bide  the  presence  of  the  rival 
nation  on  its  banks.  Its  waters  murmured  the  names  of 
Marquette  and  Jolliet,  of  La  Salle  and  Tonty,  and  their 
memories  would  not  suffer  it  to  rest  contented  with  suc- 
cessors of  another  race.  So  it  rose  in  its  might  and 
assailed  the  fort,  and  on  a  stormy  night  in  springtime  its 
resistless  flood  tore  away  a  bastion,  and  a  part  of  the 
river  wall.  The  British  in  all  haste  fled  across  the  sub- 
merged meadows,  taking  refuge  on  the  hills  above  Kas- 
kaskia;  and  from  the  year  1772  Fort  Chartres  was  never 
occupied  again. 

The  capricious  Mississippi,  as  if  satisfied  with  this  rec- 
ogfnition  of  its  power,  now  devoted  itself  to  the  reparation 
of  the  damage  it  had  wrought.  The  channel  between  the 
fort  and  the  island  in  front  of  it,  once  forty  feet  deep, 
began  to  fill  up,  and,  ultimately,  the  main  shore  and  the 
island  were  united,  leaving  the  fort  a  mile  or  more 
inland.  A  thick  growth  of  trees  speedily  concealed  it 
from  the  view  of  those  passing  upon  the  river,  and  the 
high  road  from  Cahokia  to  Kaskaskia,  which  at  first  ran 


242     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

between  the  fort  and  the  river,  was  soon  after  located  at 
the  foot  of  the  bluffs,  three  miles  to  the  eastward.  These 
changes,  which  left  the  fort  completely  isolated  and  hid- 
den, together  with  the  accounts  of  the  British  evacuation, 
gave  rise  to  the  reports  of  its  total  destruction  b)'  the 
river.  Parkman,  alluding  to  it  as  it  was  in  1764,  says: 
"The  encroaching  Mississippi  was  destined  before  many 
years  to  engulf  curtain  and  bastion  in  its  ravenous 
abyss."  A  work  relating  to  the  history  of  the  Northwest, 
published  only  last  year,  informs  us  that  "the  spot  on 
which  Fort  Chartres  stood  became  the  channel  of  the 
river,"  and  even  some  who  have  lived  for  years  in  its 
neighborhood  will  tell  you  that  it  is  entirely  swept  away. 
But  this  is  entirely  erroneous ;  the  ruins  still  remain ;  and 
had  man  treated  it  as  kindly  as  the  elements  the  old  fort 
would  be  nearly  perfect  to-day. 

After  the  British  departed,  an  occasional  band  of 
Indians  found  shelter  for  a  little  time  in  the  lonely  build- 
ings, but  otherwise  the  solitude  which  claimed  for  its 
own  the  once  busy  fortress  remained  unbroken  for  many 
a  year  to  come.  Congress,  in  1788,  reserved  to  our  gov- 
ernment a  tract  of  land  one  mile  square,  on  the  Missis- 
sippi, extending  as  far  above  as  below  Fort  Chartres, 
including  the  said  fort,  the  buildings,  and  improvements 
adjoining  the  same.  It  would  have  been  well  to  provide 
for  the  preservation  of  this  monument  of  the  romantic 
era  of  our  history,  but,  of  course,  nothing  of  the  sort  was 
done.  The  enactment  simply  prevented  any  settlement 
upon  the  reservation,  and  left  the  fort  to  become  more 
and  more  a  part  of  the  wilderness,  and  its  structures  a 
prey  to  the  spoiler.  Now  and  then  an  adventurous  trav- 
eler found  his  way  thither.  Quaint  old  Governor  Rey- 
nolds,   who   saw  it   in    1802,  says:  "It  is  an   object  of 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  243 

antiquarian  curiosity.  The  trees,  undergrowth,  and 
brush  are  mixed  and  interwoven  with  the  old  walls.  It 
presented  the  most  striking  contrast  between  a  savage 
wilderness,  filled  with  wild  beasts  and  reptiles,  and  the 
remains  of  one  of  the  largest  and  strongest  fortifications 
on  the  continent.  Large  trees  were  growing  in  the 
houses  which  once  contained  the  elegant  and  accom- 
plished French  officers  and  soldiers."  And  then,  with  a 
hazy  idea  of  rivaling  the  prophecy  of  the  lion  and  the 
lamb,  he  adds:  "Cannon,  snakes  and  bats  were  sleeping 
together  in  peace  in  and  around  this  fort."  Major  Stod- 
dard, of  the  United  States  Engineers,  who  took  possession 
of  upper  Louisiana  for  our  government  under  the  treaty  of 
cession  in  1804,  visited  Fort  Chartres  and  thus  describes 
it:  "Its  figure  is  quadrilateral  with  four  bastions,  the 
whole  of  limestone,  well  cemented.  The  walls  are  still 
entire.  A  spacious  square  of  barracks  and  a  capacious 
magazine  are  in  good  preservation.  The  enclosure  is 
covered  with  trees  from  seven  to  twelve  inches  in  diameter. 
In  fine  this  work  exhibits  a  splendid  ruin.  The  inhabi- 
tants have  taken  away  great  quantities  of  material  to 
adorn  their  own  buildings."  Brackenridge,  United  States 
Judge  for  the  District  of  Louisiana,  in  a  work  published 
in  181 7,  has  this  passage:  "Fort  de  Chartres  is  a  noble 
ruin,  and  is  visited  by  strangers  as  a  great  curiosity.  I 
was  one  of  a  party  of  ladies  and  gentleman  who  ascended 
in  a  barge  from  Ste.  Genevieve,  nine  miles  below.  The 
outward  wall,  barracks  and  magazine  are  still  standing. 
There  are  a  number  of  cannon  lying  half  buried  in  the 
earth  with  their  trunnions  broken  off.  In  visiting  the 
various  parts  we  started  a  flock  of  wild  turkeys,  which 
had  concealed  themselves  in  this  hiding  place.  I 
remarked  a  kind  of  enclosure  near,  which,   according  to 


244     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

tradition,  was  fitted  up  by  the  officers  as  a  kind  of  arbor 
where  they  could  sit  and  converse  in  the  heat  of  the 
day."  In  1820  Beck,  the  publisher  of  a  Gazetteer  of  Illi- 
nois and  Missouri,  made  a  careful  survey  of  the  remains 
of  the  fort.  He  speaks  of  it  then  as  a  splendid  ruin,  "the 
walls  in  some  places  perfect,  the  buildings  in  ruins, 
except  the  magazine,  and  in  the  hall  of  one  of  the  houses 
an  oak  growing,  eighteen  inches  in  diameter."  Hall,  the 
author  of  a  book  entitled  "Romance  of  the  West,"  was  at 
Fort  Chartres  in  1829.  "Although  the  spot  was  familiar 
to  my  companion,"  he  says,  "it  was  with  some  difficulty 
that  we  found  the  ruins,  which  are  covered  with  a  vigor- 
ous growth  of  forest  trees  and  a  dense  undergrowth  of 
bushes  and  vines.  Even  the  crumbling  pile  itself  is  thus 
overgrown,  the  tall  trees  rearing  their  stems  from  piles 
of  stone,  and  the  vines  creeping  over  the  tottering  walls. 
The  buildings  were  all  razed  to  the  ground,  but  the  lines 
of  the  foundations  could  be  easily  traced.  A  large 
vaulted  powder-magazine  remained  in  good  preservation. 
The  exterior  wall  was  thrown  down  in  some  places,  but 
in  others  retained  something  like  its  original  height  and 
form.  And  it  was  curious  to  see  in  the  gloom  of  a  wild 
forest  these  remnants  of  the  architecture  of  a  past  age." 
The  Fort  Chartres'  Reservation  was  opened  to  entry  in 
1849,  no  provision  being  made  concerning  what  remained 
of  the  fort.  The  land  was  taken  up  by  settlers,  the  area 
of  the  works  cleared  of  trees,  and  a  cabin  built  within  it, 
and  the  process  of  demolition  hastened  by  the  increasing 
number  of  those  who  resorted  there  for  building  mate- 
rial. Governor  Reynolds  came  again  in  1854,  and  found 
"Fort  Chartres  a  pile  of  moldering  ruins,  and  the  walls 
torn  away  almost  even  with  the  surface." 

To  one  visiting  the  site  but  a  year  ago,  the  excursion 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  245 

afforded  as  strong  a  contrast  between  the  past  and  the 
present  as  may  readily  be  found.  Leaving  the  railway 
at  the  nearest  point  to  the  ruins,  the  brisk  new  town  of 
Red  Bud,  twenty  miles  distant,  the  greater  part  of  the 
drive  over  the  prairie  and  through  the  forest  which  inter- 
vene is  as  monotonous  as  a  ride  anywhere  in  Illinois  may 
properly  be.  But  when  you  reach  the  bluff,  far  overlook- 
ing the  lordly  Mississippi,  and  its  lowlands  to  the  Missouri 
hills  beyond,  and  wind  down  the  road  cut  deeply  into  its 
face  to  the  little  village  of  Prairie  du  Rocher,  lying  at  its 
foot,  a  change  comes  over  the  scene.  The  wide  and 
shaded  village  streets  with  the  French  names  above  the 
little  stores,  the  houses  built  as  in  Canada,  with  dormer- 
windows  and  piazzas  facing  to  the  south,  the  mill  bearing 
the  name  the  Jesuits  gave  the  site,  the  foreign  accent 
and  appearance  of  the  people,  the  very  atmosphere,  so 
full  of  rest  and  quiet,  to  which  hurry  is  unknown,  all 
combine  to  make  one  feel  as  if  in  another  time  and 
another  land  than  ours.  It  is  as  though  a  little  piece  of 
old  France  had  been  transplanted  to  the  Mississippi,  a 
century  since,  and  forgotten ;  or  as  if  a  stratum  of  the 
early  French  settlements  at  the  Illinois,  a  hundred  years 
ago  or  more,  had  sunk  down  below  the  reach  of  time  and 
change,  with  its  ways  and  customs  and  people  intact,  and 
still  pursued  its  former  life  unmindful  of  the  busy  nine- 
teenth century  on  the  uplands  above  its  head.  It  was  not 
surprising  to  be  told  that  at  the  house  of  the  village  priest 
some  ancient  relics  were  to  be  seen,  and  that  some 
ancient  documents  had  once  been  there.  In  such  a  place 
such  things  should  always  be.  But  it  was  a  surprise  v;hen 
shown  into  a  room  adorned  with  portraits  of  Pius  IX  and 
Leo  XIII,  and  expecting  to  see  a  venerable  man  with 
black  robes,  and,  perhaps,  the  tonsure,  to  be  suddenly 


246     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

greeted  by  a  joyous  youth,  in  German  student  costume, 
with  a  mighty  meerschaum  in  his  hand,  who  introduced 
himself  as  the  priest  in  charge  of  the  parish  of  St.  Joseph 
of  Prairie  du  Rocher.  Arrived  but  six  months  before 
from  the  old  country,  he  had  been  stationed  here  because 
of  his  knowledge  of  French,  which  is  spoken  by  nearly 
all  of  the  250  families  in  the  parish,  including  a  number 
of  colored  people,  the  descendants  of  the  slaves  of  early 
settlers.  He  led  the  way  to  his  sanctum,  where  he  dis- 
played, with  pride,  three  chalices  and  a  monstrance,  or 
receptacle  for  the  wafer,  very  old  and  of  quaint  work- 
manship, made  of  solid  silver,  and  a  tabernacle  of  inlaid 
wood,  all  supposed  to  have  belonged  to  the  church  of  Ste. 
Anne  of  Fort  Chartres.  He  had  also  a  solid  silver  table- 
castor,  marked  1680,  the  property  of  his  parish,  the 
history  of  which  is  unknown.  At  an  inquiry  for  old 
manuscripts,  he  produced,  from  a  lumber-room,  a  bundle 
of  discolored  papers,  fast  going  to  decay,  which  he  had 
found  in  the  house  when  he  took  possession,  but  of  which 
he  knew  little.  Almost  the  first  inspection  revealed  a 
marriage  register  of  the  church  of  Ste.  Anne,  with  the 
autographs  of  Makarty  and  De  Villiers,  and  a  subsequent 
examination  showed  that  these  papers  comprised  a  large 
part  of  the  registers  of  that  parish,  as  well  as  the  early 
records  of  St.  Joseph  of  Prairie  du  Rocher. 

Such  an  experience  was  a  fitting  prelude  to  the  sight  of 
the  old  fort  itself,  though  this  was,  indeed,  difficult  to 
find.  In  the  early  day  all  roads  in  the  Illinois  countr}'-  led 
to  Fort  Chartres.  Highways  thither  are  the  most  prom- 
inent feature  of  the  old  village  plats  and  ancient  maps  of 
the  region.  Now,  not  even  a  path  leads  to  it  The  sim- 
ple French  people  along  the  way  could  not  believe  that 
any  one  could  really  wish  to  visit  the  old  fort,  and  with 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  247 

kindly  earnestness  insisted  that  the  intended  destination 
must  be  the  river  landing,  which  takes  its  name  from  the 
fort,  but  is  some  miles  away  from  it.  By  dint  of  repeated 
inquiries  a  course  was  found  which  led  to  the  goal  after 
a  five-mile  drive  from  Prairie  du  Rocher.  The  ruins 
were  approached  by  a  farm-road  across  a  beautiful  level 
field,  green  with  winter  wheat,  and  the  first  sight  of  the 
low  bank,  which  marks  the  position  of  the  walls,  and  of 
the  old  magazine  standing  bravely  up  against  the  forest 
background,  was  a  sufficient  reward  for  the  journey. 
Entering  the  enclosure  through  a  rude  farm-gate,  which 
stands  just  in  the  place  of  its  lofty  predecessor  of  carved 
stone,  the  line  of  the  walls  and  the  corner  bastions  can  be 
readily  traced  by  the  mounds  of  earth  covered  with  scat- 
tered fragments  of  stone,  beneath  which,  doubtless,  the 
heavy  foundations  remain,  except  at  the  corner  swept 
away  by  the  river.  On  two  sides  the  outline  of  the  ditch 
can  be  seen,  and  the  cellars  of  the  commandant's  and 
intendant's  houses,  and  of  the  barracks,  are  plainly  visible, 
half  filled  with  debris,  under  which,  perhaps,  the  old  can- 
non of  Louis  XIV  are  still  lying.  Time  has  settled  the 
question  of  title  to  them,  and  they  belong  neither  to 
France  nor  Britain  now.  One  angle  of  the  main  wall 
remains,  and  is  utilized  as  the  substructure  of  a  stable. 
Two  rude  houses,  occupied  by  farm  tenants,  are  within 
the  enclosure,  which  has  been  cleared  of  trees,  save  a 
few  tall  ones  near  the  magazine  and  alongside  the  ditch. 
In  front,  the  ground  is  open  and  under  cultivation,  and, 
looking  from  the  old  gateway,  you  have  before  you  the 
prospect  which  must  often  have  pleased  the  eyes  of  the 
officers  of  France  and  Britain,  gazing  from  the  cut-stone 
platform  above  the  arch ;  the  little  knoll  in  front  where 
Boisbriant's  land  grant  to  himself  commenced,  the  level 


248    CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

plateau  dotted  with  clumps  of  forest  trees,  the  gleam  of 
the  little  lake  in  the  lowland,  and  beyond,  the  beautiful 
buttresses  of  rock,  rounded  and  shaped  as  if  by  the  hand 
of  man,  supporting  the  upland  which  bounds  the  view. 
Of  the  vanished  village  of  Ste.  Anne,  scarcely  a  vestige 
remains,  save  a  few  garden-plants  growing  wild  on  the 
plain.  Occasionally  a  well  belonging  to  one  of  its  houses 
is  found,  but  there  is  no  sign  of  the  church,  where  "sales 
were  made  in  a  high  and  audible  voice,  while  the  people 
went  in  and  out  in  great  numbers."  The  site  of  St. 
Philippe  is  covered  by  a  farm,  but  to  this  day  a  part  of  its 
long  line  of  fields  is  known  as  "the  King's  Highway," 
though  there  is  no  road  there,  and  it  is  supposed  that  this 
was  the  route  along  which  Renault  brought  the  supplies 
from  his  grant  to  the  river  for  transfer  to  his  mines. 

Yet,  though  so  much  has  gone  of  the  ancient  surround- 
ings and  of  the  fort  itself,  it  was  an  exceeding  pleasure 
to  find  the  old  magazine,  still  almost  complete,  and  bear- 
ing itself  as  sturdily  as  if  conscious  that  it  alone  is  left  of 
all  the  vast  domain  of  France  in  America,  and  resolute  to 
preserve  its  memory  for  the  ages  to  come.  It  stands 
within  the  area  of  the  southeastern  bastion,  solidly  built 
of  stone,  its  walls  four  feet  in  thickness,  sloping  upward 
to  perhaps  twelve  feet  from  the  ground,  and  rounded  at 
the  top.  It  is  partially  covered  with  vines  and  moss, 
and  one  might  travel  far  and  wide  in  our  land  to  find  an 
object  so  picturesque  and  so  venerable.  But  for  the  loss 
of  its  iron  doors,  and  the  cut  stone  about  the  doorway,  it 
is  well  nigh  as  perfect  as  the  day  it  was  built.  Within,  a 
few  steps  lead  to  the  solid  stone  floor,  some  feet  below 
the  surface,  and  the  interior,  nearly  thirty  feet  square,  is 
entirely  uninjured.  You  may  note  the  arched  stone  roof, 
the  careful  construction  of  the  heavy  walls,  and  the  few 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  249 

small  apertures  for  light  and  air,  curiously  protected 
against  injury  from  without.  Here  one  may  invoke  the 
shades  of  Makarty,  and  De  Villiers,  and  St.  Ange,  and 
easily  bring  back  the  past.  For,  as  it  is  to-day,  it  has 
seen  them  all,  as  they  went  to  and  fro  before  it,  or  exam- 
ined its  store  of  shot  and  shell ;  it  has  heard  the  word  of 
command  as  the  grenadiers  drilled  on  the  parade  ground 
hard  by ;  it  has  watched  the  tawny  chieftains  and  their 
followers  trooping  in  single  file  through  the  adjacent 
gateway ;  and  past  its  moss-grown  walls  the  bridal  pro- 
cessions of  Madeleine  Loisel  and  Elizabeth  Montchar- 
veaux,  and  the  other  fair  ladies  from  the  fort,  have  gone 
to  the  little  church  of  Ste.  Anne.  And  gazing  at  it  in 
such  a  mood,  until  all  about  was  peopled  with  "the  airy 
shapes  of  long  ago,"  and  one  beheld  again  the  gallant 
company  which  laid  the  foundations  of  this  fortress  with 
such  high  hope  and  purpose,  the  hurrying  scouts  passing 
through  its  portals  with  tidings  of  Indian  foray  or  Span- 
ish march,  the  valiant  leaders  setting  forth  from  its  walls 
on  distant  expeditions  against  savage  or  civilized  foe,  the 
colonists  flocking  to  its  storehouse  or  council  chamber, 
the  dusky  warriors  thronging  its  enclosure  with  Chicago 
or  Pontiac  at  their  head,  the  gathering  there  of  those 
who  founded  a  great  city,  the  happy  village  at  its  gates, 
and  the  scenes  of  its  momentous  surrender,  which  sealed 
the  loss  of  an  empire  to  France ;  it  seemed  not  unreason- 
able to  wish  that  the  State  of  Illinois  might,  while  yet 
there  is  time,  take  measures  to  permanently  preserve, 
for  the  sake  of  the  memories,  the  romance,  and  the 
history  interwoven  in  its  fabric,  what  still  remains  of  Old 
Fort  Chartres. 


250     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

II.     Col.  John  Todd's  Record-Book 

The  early  records  of  "The  Illinois,"  as  the  region 
including  our  State  was  formerly  called,  unfortunately 
have  not  been  preserved.  Those  of  its  civil  and  judicial 
administration,  during  the  sixty  years  of  its  organized 
government  as  a  royal  province,  and  the  subsequent 
period  of  its  existence  as  a  county  of  Virginia,  would  be 
of  exceeding  value  to  him  who  shall  properly  write  the 
history  of  Illinois.  A  large  collection  of  such  papers 
remained  at  Kaskaskia,  once  the  capital,  successively,  of 
Province,  Territory,  and  State,  until  the  day  came  when 
the  ancient  village  was  obliged  to  yield  even  the  honor  of 
being  a  county-seat  to  the  neighboring  city  of  Chester. 
To  the  latter  place,  several  boxes  filled  with  these  papers 
were  then  removed,  and  stood  for  years  in  the  hall  of  its 
courthouse,  until,  by  neglect  or  wanton  misuse,  their  con- 
tents were  lost  or  destroyed.  One,  however,  of  these 
mementoes  of  the  past,  and  not  the  least  in  worth  among 
them,  was  recently  found  in  an  office  of  this  courthouse, 
in  a  receptacle  for  fuel,  just  in  time  to  save  it  from  the 
fiery  fate  of  many  of  its  companions,  and  is  now  in 
the  custody  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society.  This  is 
the  original  Record  or  Minute-Book  of  Col.  John  Todd, 
the  first  civil  governor  of  the  Illinois  country. 

When  George  Rogers  Clark  had  captured  the  British 
posts  beyond  the  Ohio,  under  the  authority  of  Virginia, 
that  State  was  quick  to  act  for  the  preservation  of  the 
rights  thus  acquired.  Kaskaskia  was  taken  on  the  4th  of 
July,  1778;  the  first  surrender  of  Vincennes,  or  St.  Vin- 
cent, as  it  was  sometimes  called,  occurred  soon  after ;  and 
in  October,  of  the  same  year,  the  General  Assembly  of 
Virginia  passed  "An  Act  for  establishing  the  County  of 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  251 

Illinois,  and  for  the  more  effectual  protection  and  defence 
thereof. ' '  The  young  Commonwealth,  only  in  the  third 
year  of  its  own  independent  existence,  and  then,  with  the 
other  revolted  colonies,  engaged  in  a  death  struggle  with 
the  Mother  Country,  did  not  shrink  from  the  duty  of  pro- 
viding a  suitable  government  for  the  immense  territory 
thus  added  to  its  domain.  The  act  recites  the  successful 
expedition  of  the  Virginia  militiamen  in  the  country 
adjacent  to  the  Mississippi,  and  that  good  faith  and  safety 
require  that  the  citizens  thereof,  who  have  acknowledged 
the  Commonwealth,  shall  be  supported  and  protected,  and 
that  some  temporary  form  of  government,  adapted  to 
their  circumstances,  shall  be  established.  It  provides  that 
all  the  citizens  of  Virginia,  settled  on  the  western  side  of 
the  Ohio,  shall  be  included  in  a  distinct  county,  to  be 
called  Illinois  County.  The  vast  area,  afterwards  ceded 
to  the  United  States  under  the  name  of  the  Northwest 
Territory,  and  now  divided  into  five  States,  then  com- 
posed a  single  county  of  Virginia.  Of  this  county  the 
Governor  of  the  State  was  authorized  to  appoint  a  county- 
lieutenant,  or  commandant,  who  could  appoint  and  com- 
mission deputy  -  commandants,  militia  oflScers,  and 
commissaries.  The  religion  and  customs  of  the  inhab- 
itants were  to  be  respected,  and  all  civil  officers  were  to 
be  chosen  by  a  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  respec- 
tive districts.  The  County-Lieutenant  had  power  to 
pardon  all  offenders,  except  for  murder  or  treason.  The 
Governor  was  authorized  to  levy  five  hundred  men  to 
garrison  and  protect  the  county,  and  keep  up  communi- 
cations with  Virginia,  and  with  the  Spanish  settlements, 
and  to  take  measures  to  supply  goods  to  the  inhabitants 
and  friendly  Indians.  Such  was  the  first  Bill  of  Rights 
of  Illinois. 


252     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

The  Governor  of  the  State  of  Virginia,  upon  whom 
devolved  the  duty  of  selecting  the  commandant  of  the 
country  of  Illinois,  was  the  first  who  ever  held  that  office, 
the  immortal  patriot,  Patrick  Henry ;  and  the  man  whom 
he  chose  for  this  difficult  and  responsible  position  was 
John  Todd.  He  was  not  unknown  on  the  frontier  or  at 
the  capital.  Born  in  Pennsylvania,  and  educated  in  Vir- 
ginia, he  had  practiced  law  in  the  latter  colony  for  sev- 
eral years,  when,  in  1775,  he  removed  to  the  Kentucky 
country.  He  was  one  of  those  who  met  at  Boonesboro', 
in  the  spring  of  that  year,  under  the  great  elm  tree,  near 
the  fort,  to  establish  the  proprietary  government  of  the 
so-called  colony  of  Transylvania,  comprising  more  than 
half  of  the  modern  State  of  Kentucky,  and  he  was  very 
prominent  in  the  counsels  of  its  House  of  Delegates  or 
Representatives,  the  first  legislative  body  organized  west 
of  the  AUeghenies.  He  preempted  large  tracts  of  land 
near  the  present  city  of  Lexington,  and  is  said  to  have 
been  one  of  the  band  of  pioneers,  who,  while  encamped 
on  its  site,  heard  of  the  opening  battle  of  the  Revolution 
in  the  far  East,  and  named  their  infant  settlement  in  its 
honor.  When  the  agents  of  the  Kentucky  settlers  had 
obtained  a  gift  of  powder  from  Virginia  for  the  defence 
of  the  frontier,  in  the  following  year,  and  had  brought  it 
down  the  Ohio  to  the  Three  Islands,  Todd  led  a  small 
party  through  the  forests  to  transport  it  to  one  of  the 
forts,  but  was  beaten  back,  after  a  bloody  contest  with 
the  Indians.  Early  in  1777,  the  first  court  in  Kentucky 
opened  its  sessions  at  Harrisburg,  and  he  was  one  of  the 
justices.  Shortly  after  he  was  chosen  one  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  Kentucky  in  the  legislature  of  Virginia,  and 
went  to  the  capital  to  fulfill  this  duty.  The  following 
year  he  accompanied  George  Rogers  Clark  in  his  expe- 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  253 

dition  to  the  Illinois,  and  was  the  first  man  to  enter  Fort 
Gage,  at  Kaskaskia,  when  it  was  taken  from  the  British, 
and  was  present  at  the  final  capture  of  Vincennes. 

Meanwhile  the  act,  above  mentioned,  had  been  passed, 
and  the  Governor  had  no  difiiculty  in  deciding  whom  to 
appoint  County-Lieutenant  of  Illinois.  At  Williamsburg, 
then  the  capital  of  the  Old  Dominion,  in  the  former  man- 
sion of  the  royal  rulers  of  the  whilom  colony,  Patrick 
Henry,  on  the  12th  of  December,  1778,  indited  his  letter 
of  appointment  to  John  Todd,  Esq.,  and  entered  it  in  the 
very  book  now  before  us.  It  occupies  the  first  five  pages, 
and  probably  is  in  Patrick  Henry's  handwriting.  At  all 
events  his  own  signature  is  subscribed  thereto.  This 
letter  is  not  such  a  one  as  territorial  governors  would  be 
likely  to  receive  in  these  later  days.  It  deals  with  higher 
things  than  those  which  occupy  the  modern  politician. 
The  opening  paragraph  informs  John  Todd,  Esq.,  that 
by  virtue  of  the  Act  of  the  General  Assembly,  which 
establishes  the  County  of  Illinois,  he  is  appointed  Coun- 
ty-Lieutenant, or  Commandant,  there,  and  refers  him  to 
the  law  for  the  general  tenor  of  his  conduct.  It  contin- 
ues as  follows :  ' '  The  grand  objects  which  are  disclosed  to 
the  view  of  your  countrymen  will  prove  beneficial,  or 
otherwise,  according  to  the  value  and  abilities  of  those 
who  are  called  to  direct  the  affairs  of  that  remote  coun- 
try. The  present  crisis,  rendered  favorable  by  the  good 
disposition  of  the  French  and  Indians,  may  be  improved 
to  great  purposes,  but  if,  unhappily,  it  should  be  lost,  a 
return  of  the  same  attachments  to  us  may  never  happen. 
Considering,  therefore,  that  early  prejudices  are  so  hard 
to  wear  out,  you  will  take  care  to  cultivate  and  conciliate 
the  affections  of  the  French  and  Indians."  .  .  .  "Although 
great  reliance  is  placed  on  your  prudence  in  managing 


254     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

the  people  you  are  to  reside  among,  yet  considering  you 
as  unacquainted  in  some  degree  with  their  genius,  usages, 
and  manners,  as  well  as  the  geography  of  the  country,  I 
recommend  it  to  you  to  consult  and  advise  with  the 
most  intelligent  and  upright  persons  who  may  fall  in 
your  way. ' ' 

His  relations  to  the  military,  under  Colonel  Clark,  are 
next  considered ;  the  necessity  of  cooperation  with  and 
aid  to  them,  in  defence  against,  or  attack  upon,  hostile 
British  and  Indians,  summing  up  with  the  general  direc- 
tion, to  consider  himself  "at  the  head  of  the  civil  depart- 
ment, and  as  such,  having  the  command  of  the  militia 
who  are  not  to  be  under  the  command  of  the  military, 
until  ordered  out  by  the  civil  authority,  and  to  act  in 
conjunction  with  them."  He  is  advised  "on  all  occasions 
to  inculcate  on  the  people  the  value  of  liberty,  and  the 
difference  between  the  state  of  free  citizens  of  this  Com- 
monwealth, and  that  of  slavery,  to  which  the  Illinois  was 
destined,  and  that  they  are  to  have  a  free  and  equal  rep- 
resentation, and  an  improved  jurisprudence."  His  care 
must  be  to  remove  "the  grievances  that  obstruct  the 
happiness,  increase,  and  prosperity  of  that  country,  and 
his  constant  attention  to  see  that  the  inhabitants  have 
justice  administered. "  He  is  to  discountenance  and  pun- 
ish every  attempt  to  violate  the  property  of  the  Indians, 
particularly  in  their  land.  To  the  Spanish  commandant, 
near  Kaskaskia,  he  is  to  tender  friendship  and  services, 
and  cultivate  the  strictest  connection  with  him  and  his 
people,  and  a  letter  to  him,  from  Governor  Henry,  Todd 
is  to  deliver  in  person.  And  he  is  warned  that  the  mat- 
ters given  him  in  charge  "are  singular  in  their  nature 
and  weighty  in  their  consequences  to  the  people  imme- 
diately concerned,  and  to  the  whole  State.    They  require 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  255 

the  fullest  exertion  of  ability  and  unwearied  diligence." 
Then  with  that  high  sense  of  justice  and  humanity  which 
distinguished  the  man,  Henry  turns  from  State  affairs  to 
right  the  wrongs  of  the  helpless  wife  and  children  of  his 
country's  enemy.  The  family  of  Mr.  Rocheblave,  the 
late  British  commandant  at  Kaskaskia,  had  been  left 
among  the  hostile  people  there,  while  the  husband  and 
father  was  a  prisoner  in  Virginia,  and  their  possessions 
had  been  confiscated.  Todd  is  informed  "that  they  must 
not  suffer  for  want  of  that  property  of  which  they  had 
been  bereft  by  our  troops;  it  is  to  be  restored  to  them, 
if  possible ;  if  this  can  not  be  done,  the  public  must  sup- 
port them. ' '  And  the  letter  concludes  with  a  direction  to 
send  an  express  once  in  three  months,  bringing  a  general 
account  of  affairs,  and  with  the  mention  of  a  contem- 
plated plan  for  the  appointment  of  an  agent  to  supply  the 
Illinois  with  goods  on  public  account. 

Conciliation  of  the  newly  -  enfranchised  inhabitants, 
selection  of  competent  advisers,  defence  against  foreign 
and  native  enemies,  subordination  of  the  military  to  the 
civil  arm  of  the  government,  establishment  of  Republican 
institutions,  administration  of  equal  justice  to  all,  an  alli- 
ance with  friendly  neighbors,  encouragement  of  trade, 
and  the  exertion  by  the  commandant  of  unwearied  abil- 
ity, diligence,  and  zeal,  in  behalf  of  his  people ;  such  are 
the  principal  heads  of  this  able  and,  for  its  time,  extraor- 
dinary state  paper.  It  shows  us  that  the  man  who  had 
taken  the  grave  responsibility  of  the  secret  instructionis 
which  led  to  the  capture  of  the  Illinois  country,  was  com- 
petent to  direct  the  next  step  in  its  career.  He  could 
wisely  govern  what  had  been  bravely  won.  With  all  the 
cares  of  a  new  State  engaged  in  a  war  for  its  independ- 
ence resting  upon  his  shoulders,  proscribed  as  a  traitor 


256     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

to  the  Mother  Country,  and  writing  almost  within  sound 
of  the  guns  of  the  British  fleet  upon  the  James,  he  looked 
with  calm  vision  into  the  future,  and  laid  well  the  foun- 
dations of  another  Commonwealth  beyond  the  Ohio. 

This  book,  made  precious  by  his  pen,  was  entrusted  to 
a  faithful  messenger,  who  carried  it  from  tidewater  across 
the  mountains  to  Fort  Pitt,  thence  down  the  Ohio,  until 
he  met  with  his  destined  recipient,  and  delivered  to  him 
his  credentials.  It  is  supposed  that  Todd  received  it  at 
Vincennes,  then  known  to  Virginians  as  St.  Vincent,  not 
long  after  the  surrender  of  that  place,  on  February  24, 
1779,  and  thereupon  returned  to  the  Kentucky  country  to 
make  some  necessary  preparations  for  his  new  duties, 
and  possibly  to  enlist  some  of  the  soldiers  authorized  to 
be  raised  by  the  act  under  which  he  was  appointed.  At 
all  events,  he  did  not  reach  the  Illinois  country  until  the 
spring  of  1779,  as  we  learn  from  the  journal  of  Col. 
George  Rogers  Clark,  who  says:  "The  civil  department 
in  the  Illinois  had  heretofore  robbed  me  of  too  much  of 
my  time  that  ought  to  be  spent  in  military  reflection.  I 
was  now  likely  to  be  relieved  by  Col.  John  Todd, 
appointed  by  Government  for  that  purpose.  I  was  anx- 
ious for  his  arrival,  and  happy  in  his  appointment,  as  the 
greatest  intimacy  aftd  friendship  subsisted  between  us; 

and  on  the day  of  May  (1779)  had  the  pleasure  of 

seeing  him  safely  landed  at  Kaskaskias,  to  the  joy  of 
every  person.  I  now  saw  myself  happily  rid  of  a  piece 
of  trouble  that  I  had  no  delight  in." 

So  came  the  new  Governor  to  his  post,  the  bearer  of 
Republican  institutions  to  a  land  and  a  people  but  just 
freed  from  the  rule  of  a  foreign  king.  And  with  him  he 
brought  this  very  book  containing  in  the  memorable  let- 
ter inscribed  in  its  pages  his  own  credentials,  as  well  as 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  257 

the  best  evidence  these  new  citizens  could  have  that  they 
were  subjects  no  longer.  This  was  no  ordinary  arrival 
at  the  goodly  French  village  of  Kaskaskia.  In  the  eighty 
years  of  its  existence  it  had  seen  explorers  and  mission- 
aries, priests  and  soldiers,  famous  travelers  and  men  of 
high  degree,  come  and  go,  but  never  before  one  sent  to 
administer  the  laws  of  a  peoples'  government  for  the  ben- 
efit of  the  governed.  We  may  imagine  its  inhabitants 
gathered  at  the  river  side  to  watch  the  slow  approach  of 
a  heavy  boat,  flying  a  flag  still  strange  to  them,  as  it  toils 
against  the  current  to  the  end  of  its  long  voyage  down 
the  Ohio  and  up  the  Mississippi.  And  when  there  lands 
from  it  one  with  the  mien  of  authority  (having,  per- 
chance, this  book  under  his  arm),  they  are  ready  to  ren- 
der him  the  homage  exacted  by  royal  governors,  and  here 
and  there  a  voice  even  cries:  "Vive  le  Roi. "  And,  as 
they  are  reminded  that  they  are  under  a  free  government 
now,  and  learn  that  the  newcomer  is  their  own  County- 
Lieutenant,  on  their  way  back  to  the  village,  we  may 
hear  Frangois  and  Baptiste  say  to  one  another,  "Who  is 
it  that  rules  over  us  now?"  "What  is  this  free  gov- 
ernment of  which  they  speak?"  "Is  it  a  good  thing, 
think  you?"  Small  blame  to  them  if  their  wits  were 
puzzled.  Less  than  fourteen  years  before  they  had  been 
loyal  liegemen  to  King  Louis  of  France;  then  came  a 
detachment  of  kilted  Highlanders  and  presto !  they  were 
under  the  sway  of  King  George  of  Great  Britain ;  a  few 
years  passed,  and  one  July  morning,  a  band  with  long 
beards  and  rifles  looked  down  from  the  heights  of  Fort 
Gage  and  raised  a  new  banner  over  them,  and  now  there 
was  yet  another  arrival,  which,  though  seemingly  peace- 
ful, might  mean  more  than  appeared.  Perhaps  the  very 
last  solution  of  the  mystery  which  occurred  to  them  was 


258     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

that  thenceforth  they  were  to  take  part  in  their  own 
government. 

Whether  Todd  regarded  his  department  as  such  "a 
piece  of  trouble, ' '  as  Clark  found  it,  we  have  no  means  of 
knowing,  but  certainly  he  addressed  himself  at  once  to 
his  work.  Under  the  clause  of  the  statute  which  author- 
ized him  to  appoint  and  commission  deputy-commandants 
and  militia  officers,  he  took  action,  probably  as  soon  as  he 
arrived,  and  recorded  it  in  his  book.  At  page  6  is  the 
first  entry  in  Todd's  handwriting,  which  reads  as  follows: 

' '  Made  out  the  military  commissions  for  the  District  of 
Kaskaskia,  dated  May  14,  1779: 

"Richard  Winston,  Commandant,  as  Capt. 

"Nicholas  Janis,  First  Co.,  Capt. 

"Baptiste  Charleville,  i  Lieut. 

"Charles  Charleville,  2  Lieut. 

"Michael  Godis,  Ensign. 

"Joseph  Duplassy,  2d  Capt. 

"Nicholas  le  Chanie,  i  Lieut 

"Charles  Danee,  2  Lieut. 

"Batiste  Janis,  Ensign." 

"17th  May,  sent  a  Com.  of  Command  of  Prairie  du 
Rocher,  and  Capt.  of  the  Militia  to  Jean  B.  Barbeau. 

' '  The  District  of  Kohokia : 

"Francois  Trotter,  Command't. 

"Tourangeau,  Capt.  i. 

"Beaulieu,  Capt.  2. 

"Guradin,  Lieut. 

"P.  Marthir,  Lieut. 

"Sanfaron,  Ensign. 

"Comns.  dated  14th  May,  1779,  3d  year  of  the  Com- 
monwealth. ' ' 

This  was  the  earliest  organization  of  a  militia  force 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  259 

proper,  in  this  region,  and  these  officers  were  the  first  of 
the  long  line,  adorned  by  many  brilliant  names,  of  those 
who  have  held  Illinois  commissions.  There  was  signifi- 
cance, too,  in  the  concluding  of  this  entry  with  the  words, 
"Third  year  of  the  Commonwealth."  It  meant  that  in 
this  "remote  country,"  as  Patrick  Henry  called  it,  men 
felt  the  change  from  subjects  to  freemen  then  being 
wrought  by  the  great  Revolution,  and  that  they  were 
playing  a  part  in  it. 

And  this  is  emphasized  in  the  succeeding  minute. 

Todd  appears  to  have  next  put  in  force  the  statutory 
provision  that  all  civil  officers  were  to  be  chosen  by  a 
majority  of  the  citizens  in  each  district,  and  on  pages  7 
and  8  he  records  the  "List  of  the  Court  of  Kaskaskia,  the 
Court  of  Kohokias,  and  the  Court  of  St.  Vincennes, " 
and  adds,  ''as  elected  by  the  people/"  As  elected  by  the 
people,  and  not  as  appointed  by  a  king — as  chosen  by  the 
citizens  of  each  district,  and  not  by  the  whim  of  some 
royal  minister,  thousands  of  miles  away,  across  the  sea. 
This  was  indeed  a  change.  For  more  than  half  a  century 
the  settlements  at  the  Illinois  had  known  a  court  and  a 
judge.  But  the  laws,  and  the  administrators  thereof, 
had  been  imported  from  a  distant  kingdom,  and  with  the 
framing  of  the  one  or  the  selection  of  the  other,  they  had 
had  nothing  whatever  to  do.  And,  without  doubt,  the 
election  here  recorded  was  their  first  exercise  of  the  rights 
of  citizens  of  a  republic,  and  the  first  exercise  of  such 
rights  within  the  territory  of  Illinois.  In  these  lists  appear 
a  number  of  names  of  more  or  less  note  in  the  old  time, 
and  some  of  those  already  recited  in  the  militia  appoint- 
ments. Richard  Winston,  Deputy-Commandant  at  Kas- 
kaskia, filled  also  the  office  of  Sheriff  of  that  district,  and 
Jean  B.  Barbeau  found  no    inconsistency  between    his 


26o     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

duties  as  Deputy -Commandant  at  Prairie  du  Rocher  and 
those  of  one  of  the  judges  of  the  court  of  his  district. 
Nicholas  Janis  and  Charles  Charleville  were  also  liable  to 
be  called  from  the  Kaskaskia  bench  to  do  military  duty, 
and  at  Cahokia,  five  of  the  seven  judges  held  officers' 
commissions.  This  state  of  things  may  have  been  occa- 
sioned by  the  scarcity  of  men  to  take  the  new  positions, 
so  that  "there  were  offices  enough  to  go  around,"  and  to 
give  some  public-spirited  citizens  two  apiece.  If  so,  the 
modern  office-seeker  might  well  sigh  for  those  good  old 
times.  An  unusual  circumstance  appears  in  connection 
with  the  court  of  Vincennes.  Against  the  name  of  one 
Cardinal,  elected  by  the  people  as  a  judge,  Todd  has 
written,  "refused  to  serve."  This  is  believed  to  be  the 
only  instance  in  our  annals  of  a  refusal  to  take  an  office. 
And  it  is  feared  that  this  unique  individual  left  no 
descendants.  No  other  of  the  name  appears  in  any  sub- 
sequent record  of  the  territory,  so  far  as  known.  It  is 
possible  that  we  ought  to  share  the  glory  of  this  rara  avis 
with  the  citizens  of  Indiana,  since  Vincennes  is  within 
the  limits  of  that  State.  But,  as  he  was  at  the  time  of 
this  unexampled  refusal  a  citizen  of  Illinois,  we  should 
strenuously  claim  him  as  one  whose  like  will  ne'er  be 
seen  again.  After  the  list  of  the  court  of  Vincennes, 
Todd  notes  his  militia  appointments  at  that  place,  the 
Chief-Justice  P.  Legras  being  also  appointed  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  and  the  first  Associate-Justice,  Major.  Opposite 
two  of  the  names  is  written,  "rank  not  settled,"  as  if 
already  that  jealousy,  which  is  the  bane  of  the  profession 
of  arms,  had  sprung  up.  And  a  number  of  blanks  are 
left,  apparently  to  await  the  determination  of  that  con- 
troversy, which  seem  never  to  have  been  filled. 

Having  organized  the  military  and  judicial    depart- 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  261 

ments  of  his  government,  the  new  commandant  appears 
next  to  have  given  his  attention  to  the  encouragement  of 
business.  On  page  1 1  of  this  book  appears  a  License  for 
Trade,  permitting  "Richard  M'Carthy,  Gentleman,  to 
traffick  and  merchandise,  with  all  the  liege  subjects  and 
Friends  of  the  United  States  of  America,  of  what  nation 
soever  they  be,  and  to  erect  Factories  and  Stores  at  any 
convenient  place  or  places  he  shall  think  proper  within 
the  Commonwealth. ' '  A  careful  proviso  is  made  that 
"by  virtue  hereof  no  pretence  shall  be  made  to  trespass 
upon  the  effects  or  property  of  individuals";  and  the 
license  is  given  under  the  hand  and  seal  of  John  Todd, 
at  Kaskaskia,  the  5th  June,  1779,  in  the  3d  year  of  the 
Commonwealth. 

The  financial  question  was  the  next  to  claim  the  atten- 
tion of  the  busy  County-Lieutenant,  and  he  grappled 
with  it  sturdily.  It  was  now  the  fourth  year  of  the  Rev- 
olutionary War,  and  the  peculiar  disadvantages  of  the 
continental  currency,  which  had  been  severely  felt  at  the 
East,  began  to  be  appreciated  at  the  West  as  well.  But 
John  Todd  did  not  hesitate  to  confront  this  evil,  and,  at 
any  rate,  devised  a  plan  for  its  correction.  Within  a 
month  of  his  arrival  at  Kaskaskia,  on  the  nth  of  June, 
1779,  h®  addressed  a  letter  to  the  court  of  Kaskaskia, 
which  appears  oq  page  12  of  his  Record-Book.  He 
informs  it  that  "the  only  method  America  has  to  support 
the  present  just  war  is  by  her  credit,  which  credit  con- 
sists of  her  bills  emitted  from  the  diifferent  treasuries  by 
which  she  engages  to  pay  the  bearer,  at  a  certain  time, 
gold  and  silver  in  exchange ;  that  there  is  no  friend  to 
American  Independence,  who  has  any  judgment,  but 
soon  expects  to  see  it  equal  to  gold  and  silver,  but  that 
merely  from  its  uncommon  quantity,  and  in  proportion  to 


262     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

it,  arises  the  complaint  of  its  want  of  credit.  And  one 
only  remedy  remains  within  his  power,  which  is  to  receive, 
on  behalf  of  government,  such  sums  as  the  people  shall  be 
induced  to  lend  upon  a  sure  fund,  and  thereby  decrease  the 
quantity. ' '  He  states  that  the  mode  of  doing  this  is  already 
planned,  and  requests  the  concurrence  and  assistance  of 
the  judges.  His  zeal  for  the  cause  led  him  slightly  astray 
when  he  predicted  that  these  bills  would  soon  be  equal  to 
gold  and  silver,  since,  in  the  following  year,  continental 
money  was  worth  just  two  cents  on  the  dollar,  and  never 
became  more  valuable.  But  in  other  respects  his  scheme 
was  not  so  erroneous.  He  did  not  indulge  in  the  delusion 
that  all  troubles  could  be  removed  by  an  unlimited  issue 
of  paper  money.  On  the  contrary,  he  favored  the  retire- 
ment of  a  portion  of  that  in  circulation,  and  a  kind  of 
redemption  of  the  public  promises  to  pay.  On  page  14 
is  set  forth  at  length,  "Plan  for  borrowing  S3,33sy3  dol- 
lars of  Treasury  notes,  both  belonging  to  this  State  and 
the  United  States. "  The  preamble  recites  that  owing  to 
no  other  reason  than  the  prodigious  quantity  of  treasury 
notes  now  in  circulation  the  value  of  almost  every  com- 
modity has  risen  to  most  enormous  prices,  the  preserving 
the  credit  of  the  said  bills  by  reducing  the  quantity,  requires 
some  immediate  remedy.  And  it  is  therefore  declared 
that  21,000  acres  of  land,  belonging  to  the  Common- 
wealth, shall  be  laid  off  on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi  in 
the  district  of  Cahokia,  1,000  acres  to  be  reserved  for  a 
town,  and  the  remainder  to  constitute  a  fund ;  and  that 
the  lender  of  money  shall  take  a  certificate  for  the  sum, 
entitling  him  to  demand,  within  two  years,  a  title  to  his 
proportion  of  the  land  in  said  fund,  or  the  sum  originally 
advanced  in  gold  and  silver,  with  5  per  cent  interest  per 
annum.      It  is  prudently  provided  that  the  State  shall 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  263 

have  the  option  of  giving  land  or  money,  and  to  further 
protect  a  paternal  government  against  any  undue  advan- 
tage being  taken  of  it  by  its  sons,  notice  is  given  that  a 
deduction  shall  be  made  for  all  money  hereafter  discov- 
ered to  be  counterfeited.  Then  follow  the  commence- 
ment of  a  French  translation  of  the  plan,  a  copy  of  the 
instructions  to  the  Commissioner  for  borrowing  money 
upon  this  fund,  which  direct  him  to  keep  every  man's 
money  by  itself,  and  the  form  of  receipt  to  be  issued. 
Henry  H.  Crutcher  appears  to  have  been  appointed  such 
Commissioner,  and  his  bond,  with  George  Slaughter 
and  John  Roberts  as  sureties  to  Mr.  John  Todd,  Com- 
mander-in-Chief of  the  County  of  Illinois,  in  the  penalty 
of  ^33,333/4  for  the  safe  keeping  of  the  money,  is  next 
recorded  under  date  of  June  14,  1779. 

On  the  same  date  this  energetic  "Commander-in- 
Chief"  addresses  himself  to  the  subject  of  the  land  under 
his  jurisdiction,  and  the  title  thereto.  He  issues  a  proc- 
lamation strictly  enjoining  all  persons  from  making  any 
new  settlements  on  the  flat  lands  within  one  league  of  the 
Rivers  Mississippi,  Ohio,  Illinois,  and  Wabash,  except  in 
the  manner  and  form  of  settlements  as  heretofore  made 
by  the  French  inhabitants;  and  every  inhabitant  is 
required  to  lay  before  the  persons  appointed  in  each  dis- 
trict for  that  purpose  a  memorandum  of  his  or  her  land 
with  their  vouchers  for  the  same.  Warning  is  given  that 
the  number  of  adventurers  who  will  soon  run  over  this 
country,  renders  the  above  method  necessary,  as  well 
to  ascertain  the  vacant  land  as  to  guard  against  tres- 
passes which  will  be  committed  on  land  not  of  record. 
The  object  of  this  step  evidently  was  not  to  discourage 
actual  settlers;  but  to  prevent  the  taking  up  of  large 
tracts  of  land  by  speculators ;  and  it  shows  both  wisdom 


264     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

and  foresight  on  the  part  of  the  head  of  the  government. 
The  graver  duties  associated  with  that  position  were 
quickly  to  devolve  upon  John  Todd,  and  on  page  i8  of 
his  Record- Book  is  inscribed  an  entry,  which  reads  very 
strangely  at  the  present  day.     It  is  verbatim  as  follows : 

"Illinois  to  wit:  To  Richard  Winston,  Esq.,  Sheriff  in 
chief  of  the  District  of  Kaskaskia. 

"Negro  Manuel,  a  Slave,  in  your  custody,  is  con- 
demned by  the  Court  of  Kaskaskia,  after  having  made 
honorable  Fine  at  the  Door  of  the  Church,  to  be  chained 
to  a  post  at  the  Water  Side,  and  there  to  be  burnt  alive 
and  his  ashes  scattered,  as  appears  to  me  by  Record. 
This  Sentence  you  are  hereby  required  to  put  in  execu- 
tion on  tuesday  next  at  9  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  this 
shall  be  your  warrant.  Given  under  my  hand  and  seal 
at  Kaskaskia  the  13th  day  of  June  in  the  third  year  of  the 
Commonwealth." 

This  is  a  grim  record,  and  reveals  a  dark  chapter  in  the 
early  history  of  Illinois.  It  is  not  surprising  that  some 
one  has  drawn  heavy  lines  across  it  as  if  to  efface  it  for- 
ever. It  is  startling  to  reflect  that  barely  one  hundred 
years  ago,  within  the  territory  now  composing  our  State, 
a  court  of  law  deliberately  sentenced  a  human  being  to 
be  burned  alive !  It  is  possible  that  the  attempted  can- 
cellation of  the  entry  may  mean  that  the  warrant  was 
revoked.  And  so  let  us  hope  for  the  sake  of  humanity. 
No  other  evidence,  so  far  as  known,  of  this  peculiar  case 
exists.  But  it  is  palpable  that  this  inhuman  penalty  was 
actually  fixed  by  the  court,  and  as  the  statute  deprived 
the  commandant  of  the  power  to  pardon  in  such  cases,  it 
is  more  probable  that  the  sentence  was  actually  executed. 
The  cruel  form  of  death,  the  color  of  the  unfortunate  vic- 
tim, and  the  scattering  of  the  ashes,  all  seem  to  indicate 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  265 

that  this  was  one  of  the  instances  of  the  imagined  crime 
of  Voudouism  or  negro  witchcraft,  for  which  it  is  known 
that  some  persons  suffered  in  the  Illinois  country  about 
this  time.  Reynolds,  in  his  Pioneer  History,  says:  "In 
Cahokia  about  the  year  1 790,  this  superstition  got  the 
upper  hand  of  reason,  and  several  poor  African  slaves 
were  immolated  at  the  shrine  of  ignorance  for  this  imag- 
inary offense.  An  African  negro,  called  Moreau,  was 
hung  for  this  crime  on  a  tree  not  far  southeast  of  Caho- 
kia. It  is  stated  that  he  had  said  he  poisoned  his  master, 
but  his  mistress  was  too  strong  for  his  necromancy." 
There  is  no  doubt  that  this  is  a  correct  statement  of  the 
facts,  although  the  date  of  their  occurrence  is  errone- 
ously given.  For  on  the  next  page  of  this  Record-Book 
appears  Todd's  order  for  the  detail  of  a  guard  for  this 
very  negro  Moreau  to  the  place  of  execution,  dated  June 
i5>  i779>  which  of  course  goes  to  show  the  probability  of 
the  infliction  of  the  penalty  above  mentioned  in  the  case 
of  the  negro,  Manuel.  This  order  in  regard  to  Moreau 
is  as  follows : 

"To  Capt.  Nicholas  Janis. 

"You  are  hereby  required  to  call  upon  a  party  of  your 
militia  to  guard  Moreau,  a  slave  condemned  to  execution, 
up  to  the  town  of  Kohos.  Put  them  under  an  officer. 
They  shall  be  entitled  pay  rashtions  and  refreshment 
during  the  Time  they  shall  be  upon  Duty  to  be  certifyed 
hereafter  by  you.         "I  am  sir  your  hble  servant, 

"Jno.   Todd. 
"15th  June,  1779. 
"I  recommend  4  or  5  from  your 
Compy  and  as  many  from  Capt.  Placey  and 
consult  Mr.  Lacroix  about  the  time  necessary. 

"J.  T." 


266     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

Nicholas  Janis  was,  as  we  have  seen,  Captain  of  the 
first  Company  of  Militia  at  Kaskaskia,  and  the  Captain 
Placey  mentioned  is,  undoubtedly,  Joseph  Duplessis,  Cap- 
tain of  the  Second  Company  at  the  same  place.  Kohos. 
was  the  familiar  abbreviation  of  Cahokia,  and  the  Mr.  La 
Croix,  who  was  to  be  consulted,  must  have  been  J.  B.  La 
Croix,  jfirst  sheriff  of  the  Cahokia  district,  by  whom,  no 
doubt,  the  execution  of  Moreau  was  conducted.  These 
two  entries,  therefore,  confirm  Reynold's  account  of  this 
matter,  the  accuracy  of  which  has  sometimes  been  ques- 
tioned, and  give  to  old  Cahokia  the  sad  distinction  of 
having  been  a  western  Salem. 

The  different  subjects  thus  far  included  in  this  interest- 
ing Record-Book,  were  all  dealt  with  by  Todd  between 
May  14  and  June  15,  1779.  He  certainly  was  not  idle, 
nor  did  he  lack  for  important  business  during  the  first 
month  of  his  administration.  His  duties  appear  then  to 
have  called  him  away  from  Kaskaskia,  probably  to  Vin- 
cennes,  to  make  the  appointments  there  already  noticed. 
And  as  he  was  about  to  leave,  he  addressed  a  letter  to 
his  deputy-commandant,  Richard  Winston,  which  is  suffi- 
ciently interesting  to  be  quoted  entire. 

"Sir:  During  my  absence  the  command  will  devolve 
upon  you  as  commander  of  Kaskaskia. — If  Colo.  Clark 
should  want  anything  more  for  his  expedition,  consult  the 
members  of  the  court  upon  the  best  mode  of  proceeding, 
if  the  people  will  not  spare  wilingly,  if  in  their  power, 
you  must  press  it,  valuing  the  property  by  Two  men  upon 
Oath. — let  the  military  have  no  pretext  for  forcing  prop- 
erty— When  you  order  it  and  the  people  will  not  find  it, 
then  it  will  be  Time  for  them  to  Interfere. — by  all  means 
Keep  up  a  Good  Understanding  with  Colo.  Clark  and  the 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  267 

Officers. — if  this  is  not  the  Case  you  will  be  unhappy.     I 
am  sir  "Yr  Hble  Servt  John  Todd 

''June  15,  1779." 

The  expedition  of  Colonel  Clark,  referred  to  in  this  let- 
ter, is  supposed  to  have  been  that  planned  against  the 
British  at  Detroit,  which  he  and  Governor  Henry  were 
very  anxious  to  undertake.  They  were  ultimately  pre- 
vented by  lack  of  means.  Todd's  determination  to  keep 
the  military  in  subordination  to  the  civil  power  is  very 
plain,  but  at  the  same  time  his  doubt  of  his  success,  and 
his  appreciation  of  Clark's  peculiarities,  are  curiously 
shown  by  the  concluding  paragraph  of  this  letter.  When 
he  tells  Richard  Winston  by  all  means  to  keep  up  a  good 
understanding  with  Colonel  Clark,  and  that,  if  this  is  not 
the  case,  he  will  be  unhappy,  he  evidently  is  speaking  of 
that  of  which  he  knows  by  personal  experience. 

Upon  his  return  to  Kaskaskia,  July  27,  1779,  the  reso- 
lutions of  Congress  concerning  the  issues  of  the  conti- 
nental money,  dated  May  20,  1777,  and  April  11,  1778, 
engaged  his  attention.  And  he  put  forth  a  short  proc- 
lamation in  French  and  English,  both  copies  being  duly 
transcribed  in  his  Record  at  pages  19  and  20,  notifying 
persons  having  money  of  those  issues  that  unless  they 
shall  as  soon  as  possible  pay  the  same  into  some  conti- 
nental treasury,  the  money  must  sink  on  their  hands, 
and  that  the  vouchers  must  be  certified  by  himself  or 
some  deputy-commandant  of  this  county,  and  have  refer- 
ence to  the  bundle  of  money  numbered  and  sealed. 
Whether  this  congressional  plan  superseded  that  of 
Todd's  own  devising,  we  do  not  know,  but  at  all  events 
we  hear  nothing  further  of  his  land  fund. 

It   would  appear  that  during  his  brief  absence,  the 


268     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

newly-appointed  court  at  Kaskaskia  had  not  transacted 
business  with  the  diligence  and  celerity  required  by  John 
Todd.  The  judges  were  all  elected  from  among  the 
French  settlers,  and  we  may  assume  that  their  easy-going 
ways  did  not  find  favor  with  the  busy  man  from  beyond 
the  Ohio.  They  seem  to  have  adjourned  court  to  what 
appeared  to  him  to  be  too  long  a  day,  and  his  consequent 
action  savors  somewhat  of  a  direct  interference  of  the 
executive  with  the  judiciary,  but,  doubtless,  was  effective. 
On  page  2 1  we  read  the  following  document : 

*'To  Gabriel  Cerre  &c.  Esqrs.  Judges  of  the  Court  for 
the  District  of  Kaskaskia: 

"You  are  hereby  authorized  and  required  to  hold  and 
constitute  a  court  on  Satterday,  the  21st  of  July  at  the 
usual  place  of  holding  court  within  yr  District,  any 
adjournment  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  Provided 
that  no  suitor  or  party  be  compeled  to  answear  any  pro- 
cess upon  said  Day  unless  properly  summoned  by  the 
Clark  and  Sheriff.  Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  at 
Kaskaskia.  "John  Todd." 

He  was  tender  of  the  rights  of  parties,  but  proposed 
that  the  judges  should  attend  to  their  work.  Doubtless, 
Gabriel  and  his  associates  grumbled  not  a  little  at  this 
interference  with  their  comfort,  and  insisted,  the  one  to 
the  other,  that  they  had  not  accepted  the  judicial  office 
upon  any  such  understanding.  Pleasure  first  and  busi- 
ness afterwards,  had  always  been  the  rule  at  Kaskaskia, 
and  to  compel  a  man  to  hold  court  when  he  preferred  to 
smoke  his  pipe  in  the  sun,  or  go  fishing,  was  an  unpre- 
cedented hardship.  But  all  the  same,  we  may  be  very 
sure  that  they  did  "hold  and  constitute  a  court  on  Satter- 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  269 

day  the  21st  of  July,  any  adjournment  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding. " 

Mindful  of  Governor  Henry's  advice  to  cultivate  a  con- 
nection with  the  Spanish  commandant,  near  Kaskaskia, 
Commandant  Todd  sends  a  letter,  in  French,  on  August 
9,  1779,  to  Monsieur  Cartabonne,  commanding  at  Ste.  Gen- 
evieve, and  a  letter  to  the  same  effect  to  Monsieur  Leyba, 
at  St.  Louis.  In  these  letters  he  proposes  an  arrange- 
ment concerning  the  commerce  of  the  Illinois  country, 
for  the  mutual  advantage  of  their  respective  govern- 
ments. His  Catholic  Majesty  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
State  of  Virginia  on  the  other,  and  for  the  disadvantage 
of  their  common  enemy,  the  British.  He  informs  the 
Spaniards  that  Colonel  Clark  has  not  yet  departed  from 
Post  Vincennes,  and  further  states  that,  if  they  are 
attacked  by  any  enemies,  and  he  can  be  of  service  to 
them,  he  is  ordered  by  the  Governor  of  Virginia  to  give 
aid  to  them. 

The  slow-moving  French  settlers  seem  to  have  been  in 
other  ways  a  trial,  and  probably  were  dilatory  in  provid- 
ing supplies  for  the  troops,  which  were  soon  expected 
from  Virginia.  And  on  August  nth  Todd  enters,  on 
page  22  of  his  book,  a  brief  address,  in  which  the  inhab- 
itants of  Kaskaskia  are,  for  the  last  time,  invited  to  con- 
tract with  the  persons  appointed  for  provision,  especially 
"Flower,"  for  the  troops  who  will  shortly  arrive.  He 
says,  "I  hope  they  will  use  properly  the  Indulgence  of  a 
mild  Government.  If  I  shall  be  obliged  to  give  the  mili- 
tary permission  to  press  It  will  be  a  disadvantage,  and 
what  ought  more  to  influence  Freemen,  it  will  be  a  dis- 
honor to  the  people."  It  is  evident  that  Baptiste, 
Frangois,  and  the  rest,  while  willing  enough  to  be  "  Free- 
men, ' '  on  their  money  still  preferred  a  king.     And  the 


270    CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

supplies  which  they  would  have  readily  furnished  in 
exchange  for  coins  stamped  with  the  head  of  George  III 
or  Louis  XV,  were  not  forthcoming  when  continental 
currency  was  offered  in  return,  despite  all  of  Todd's 
efforts  in  that  behalf.  It  is  said  that  the  early  French 
inhabitants  were  so  puzzled  by  the  machinery  of  free 
government  that  they  longed  for  the  return  of  the 
despotic  authority  of  their  military  commandants.  If  so, 
there  must  have  been  a  familiar  sound  about  this  brief 
address  which  might  have  made  them  think  their  good 
old  times  had  come  again.  After  this  he  copies  an 
order  upon  the  Governor  of  Virginia,  in  favor  of  J.  B. 
La  Croix,  the  Sheriff  of  Cahokia  in  payment  of  supplies 
furnished,  probably  one  of  the  few,  if  not  the  only  one, 
who  paid  any  attention  to  the  address. 

The  Commandant  found  it  necessary  to  resort  to  more 
stringent  measures.  And  on  August  2  2d  he  issued 
another  proclamation  laying  an  embargo  upon  the 
exportation  of  any  provisions  whatsoever,  by  land  or 
water,  for  sixty  days,  unless  he  has  assurances  before 
that  time  that  a  sufficient  stock  is  laid  up  for  the  troops, 
or  sufficient  security  is  g^ven  to  the  contractors  for  its 
delivery  when  required.  And  the  offender  is  to  be  sub- 
jected to  imprisonment  for  one  month  and  to  forfeit  the 
value  of  such  exported  provision.  This  he  records  in  Eng- 
lish and  in  French,  apparently  having  special  reference  to 
those  of  the  latter  race.  And  seemingly  becoming  weary 
of  the  delay  of  the  people  as  to  the  surrender  of  the  con- 
tinental money,  he  gives  notice,  in  both  languages,  that 
after  August  23,  1779,  no  more  certificates  will  be  granted 
at  Kaskaskia  to  persons  producing  the  called-in  emis- 
sions. It  does  not  appear  whether  this  delay  was  due  to 
the  fact  that  the  prudent  French  settlers  really  had  no 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  271 

continental  money  on  hand,  or  to  their  wish  to  get  some 
return  for  what  little  they  did  own,  and  they  were  unable 
to  see  any  such  outcome  from  a  deposit  in  a  continental 
treasury. 

October  7,  1779,  he  makes  a  note  of  an  order  given  to 
Patrick  M'Crosky  on  the  Gov't  for  140  Dollars  being  No. 
2  issued  "by  a  certificate  from  Mr,  Helm."  This  Mr. 
Helm  was  one  of  Clark's  trusty  lieutenants,  and  was, 
probably,  then  commanding  the  fort  at  Vincennes. 

A  short  and  simple  method  of  forfeiting  realty  to  the 
State  is  illustrated  in  the  proceedings  set  forth  on  pages 
25  and  26.  On  the  4th  of  October,  1779,  a  notification 
was  given  at  the  door  of  the  church  of  Kaskaskia,  that 
the  half-a-lot  above  the  church,  joining  Picard  on  the 
east,  and  Langlois  on  the  west,  unless  some  persons  should 
appear  and  support  their  claim  to  the  said  lot  within 
three  days,  would  be  condemned  to  the  use  of  the  Com- 
monwealth. On  the  13th  day  of  October,  1779,  accord- 
ingly, John  Todd,  under  his  hand  and  seal,  at  Kaskaskia, 
proclaimed  that  after  publicly  calling  any  person  or  per- 
sons to  show  any  claim  they  might  have  to  said  lot,  and 
no  one  appearing  to  claim  the  same  as  against  the  Com- 
monwealth of  Virginia,  he  declares  and  adjudges  the  said 
lot  to  belong  to  the  said  Commonwealth,  and  that  all 
persons,  whatsoever,  be  thenceforth  debarred  and  pre- 
cluded forever  from  any  claim  thereto. 

The  heading  of  the  following  entry  in  this  book  is, 
"Copy  of  a  Grant  to  Colonel  Montgomery,"  but  the 
remainder  of  that  page,  and  one  or  two  more,  have  been 
deliberately  torn  out.  The  explanation  of  this  mutilation 
may  be  found  in  a  report  made  in  18 10  by  the  Commis- 
sioners appointed  by  Congress  to  examine  the  claims  of 
persons  claiming  lands  in  the  district  of  Kaskaskia,  from 


272     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

which  it  appears  that  many  of  the  ancient  evidences  of 
title  had  been  deliberately  destroyed  in  the  interest  of 
speculators  claiming  under  forged  deeds  or  perjured  tes- 
timony. Some  one,  interested  in  opposition  to  this  grant, 
may  have  had  access  to  this  book  years  after  the  entry, 
when  the  land  had  become  valuable,  and  attempted  to 
defeat  the  title  in  this  way.  The  Colonel  Montgomery 
named  in  it  was  probably  the  Captain  Montgomery  who 
came  to  the  Illinois  with  Clark,  and  rendered  good  serv- 
ice on  that  expedition.  He  is  described  as  a  jovial  Irish- 
man, whom  Clark  fell  in  with  at  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  on 
his  way  down  the  river,  and  who  readily  joined  in  the 
perilous  adventure,  from  pure  love  of  fighting.  He 
commanded  the  garrison  of  Fort  Gage,  at  Kaskaskia, 
after  its  surrender  by  the  British. 

This  is  the  last  entry  in  the  book  in  Todd's  hand- 
writing. 

We  know  that  he  continued  to  hold  his  position  as 
Commandant  and  County-Lieutenant  at  the  Illinios  for 
some  three  years  more,  devoting  most  of  his  time  to  its 
affairs.  And  in  that  period  he  made  the  difficult  and 
often  dangerous  journey  between  his  distant  post  and  the 
Kentucky  settlements,  or  Virginia,  ty/o  or  more  times 
in  every  year.  In  1779  Virginia  ordered  two  regiments 
to,  be  raised  for  service  in  its  western  counties,  and  it  is 
supposed  that  Todd  was  appointed  Colonel  of  one  of 
them.  In  the  spring  of  1 780  he  was  elected  a  delegate 
from  the  county  of  Kentucky  to  the  Legislature  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  was  married  while  attending  its  session  of  that 
year.  In  the  fall  he  returned  to  Kentucky,  and,  having 
established  his  bride  in  the  fort  at  Lexington,  resumed 
his  journey  to  Illinois.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the 
foundation  of  Transylvania  University,  the  first  institu- 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  273 

tion  of  learning  west  of  the  mountains,  is  attributed  to 
the  State  aid  obtained  from  the  Virginia  Legislature  by 
his  exertions  in  its  behalf.  In  November,  1780,  the 
county  of  Kentucky  was  divided  into  the  three  counties 
of  Fayette,  Lincoln,  and  Jefferson,  and  in  the  summer  of 
1 78 1,  Governor  Thomas  Jefferson  appointed  Todd,  Col- 
onel of  Fayette  Coimty;  Daniel  Boone,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  and  Thomas  Marshall  (father  of  Chief-Justice 
Marshall),  Surveyor.  In  December,  1781,  Todd  secured 
a  town  lot  at  Lexington,  and  in  May,  1782,  he  was  made 
one  of  the  trustees  of  Lexington  by  Act  of  Virginia.  In 
the  summer  of  that  year  he  visited  Richmond,  on  the 
business  of  the  Illinois  country,  where  it  is  said  he  had 
concluded  to  permanently  reside,  and  stopped  at  Lexing- 
ton on  his  return.  While  here  an  Indian  attack  upon  a 
frontier  station  summoned  the  militia  to  arms,  and  he, 
as  senior  Colonel,  took  command  of  the  little  force  of  180 
men  who  went  in  pursuit  of  the  retreating  savages.  It 
included  Daniel  Boone  and  many  other  pioneers  of  note, 
sixty  of  their  number  beipg  commissioned  officers.  At 
the  Blue  Licks,  oil  the  i8th  of  August,  1782,  the  enemy 
was  overtaken,  and  the  headlong  courage  of  those  who 
would  not  observe  the  prudent  counsels  of  Todd  and 
Boone,  precipitated  an  action  which  was  very  disastrous 
to  the  whites.  One-third  of  those  who  went  into  battle 
were  killed,  a  number  wounded,  and  several  made  pris- 
oners. And  among  the  heroes  who  laid  down  their  lives 
that  day  was  Colonel  John  Todd.  He  was  shot  through 
the  body  while  gallantly  fighting  at  the  head  of  his  men, 
and,  says  an  eye-witness,  "When  last  seen  he  was  reeling 
in  his  saddle,  while  the  blood  gushed  in  profusion  from 
his  wounds." 

A  few  other  minutes  were  made  in  this  book  in  Colonel 


274     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

Todd's  lifetime,  which  are  not  in  his  handwriting.  On 
two  pages,  near  the  end,  is  kept  his  "Peltry  Account" 
which  is  charged  with  his  drafts  on  the  Virginia  Govern- 
ment, in  favor  of  Monsieur  Beauregarde,  to  the  amount 
of  $30,000,  dated  at  St,  Louis,  September  14,  1779,  the 
value  thereof  having,  apparently,  been  received,  one- 
third  in  paper  currency  and  two-thirds  in  peltries.  The 
account  is  credited  with  payments  made  for  supplies  for 
the  garrison  at  Kaskaskia,  purchased  by  Col.  John  Mont- 
gomery, and  for  the  garrison  at  Cahokia,  purchased  by 
Captain  M' Car  thy,  probably  that  Richard  M'Carthy, 
gentleman,  to  whom  a  "License  for  Trade"  was  granted, 
as  we  have  seen.  The  principal  item  in  these  supplies 
seems  to  have  been  a  beverage  called  "Taffia,"  which 
was  laid  in  by  the  hogshead.  On  page  28  is  an  oath  of 
allegiance  taken  by  one  James  Moore,  at  Kaskaskia,  to 
the  United  States  of  America,  on  July  10,  1782,  while  the 
States  were  still  under  the  articles  of  confederation, 
showing  the  form  then  used.  He  renounces  all  fidelity 
to  King  George  the  Third,  King  of  Great  Britain,  his 
heirs  and  successors,  and  agrees  to  make  known  to  some 
one  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  the  United  States  all  treason- 
ous and  all  traitorous  conspiracies  which  may  come  to  his 
knowledge  to  be  formed  against  said  United  States,  or 
any  one  of  them. 

During  Todd's  later  absences  from  his  government,  a 
French  gentleman  named  Demunbrunt  appears  to  have 
been  his  deputy  and  acting  Commandant  in  his  place. 
And  it  is  curious  to  notice  on  the  inside  of  one  of  the 
covers  of  this  book  a  little  penmanship,  which  may  indi- 
cate that  this  individual  was  rather  proud  of  his  tem- 
porary digfnity.  It  reads,  "Nota  bene.  Nous  Thimoth^ 
Demunbrunt  Lt.   Comdt  Par  interim  &c  &c";   and  it 


(r 


"-    OP  THE 


UN-rr-'TY 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  275 

seems  as  if  Thimothe  could  not  resist  the  temptation  to 
see  how  his  name  and  title  would  look,  and  so  wrote  it 
out  in  a  fine,  bold  hand  for  all  men  to  see  for  a  hundred 
years  to  come.  On  the  last  page  are  two  memoranda, 
apparently  in  the  same  bold  hand,  which,  in  pencil 
underneath,  are  said  to  be  by  Thimoth6  Demunbrunt  Lt. 
Comdt  par  interim,  and,  doubtless,  this  is  correct.  They 
read:  "February  1782,  Arived  a  small  tribe  of  the 
Wabash  Indians  Imploring  the  paternal  succor  of  their 
Father  the  Boston ians,  having  their  patent  from  Major 
Linctot,  in  consequence  I  did  on  Behalf  of  the  Common- 
wealth give  them  Six  Bushell  Indian  Corn,  Fifty  Pounds 
of  Bread,  four  Pounds  of  Gun  Powder,  Ten  Pounds  of 
Ball  and  One  Gallon  of  Tafi&a,  from  Carbonneaux. " 
And,  "March  2 2d,  Came  here  Deputys  from  the  Dela- 
wars,  Shawanoes  and  Cherokee  nations  of  Indians  Beg- 
ging that  the  Americans  wold  grant  them  Pease,  as 
likewise  the  French  and  Spanish,  and  after  hearing  their 
Talk,  Smoaking  the  pipe  of  peace  and  friendship  with 
them,  and  from  their  conduct  while  here  as  well  as  many 
marks  they  gave  us  of  their  Sincerity  I  could  not  avoid 
giving  them  on  Behalf  of  the  Americans  the  Following 
articles,  vizt. 

"10  Bushells  Indian  Corn,  100  lb.  Flour  and  100  lb. 
Bisquit,  6  lb.  Tobaco,  one  Gallon  Tafia,  5  qts  wampum 
and  Canoe  which  cost  me  20  Dollars." 

The  use  of  the  word  "Bostonians"  by  the  Wabash 
Indians,  to  indicate  the  whites,  is  interesting,  and  may, 
perhaps,  show  that  this  tribe  contained  or  was  made  up 
of  fragments  of  tribes  of  New  England  Indians,  who 
would  naturally  use  this  phrase.  The  evidence  furnished 
by  these  memoranda  of  the  weakness  and  destitution  of 
once  powerful  Indian  nations  is  very  striking,  although 


/ 


276     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

their  real  condition  may  have  been  slightly  exaggerated, 
in  order  to  obtain  larger  supplies  of  Tafia.  Probably  they 
fared  better  at  the  hands  of  the  simple  Frenchman,  from 
the  good-will  of  his  race  to  the  red  man,  than  if  Colonel 
Todd  had  been  at  the  helm. 

But,  it  may  be  asked,  what  had  become  of  Richard 
Winston,  who  was  Deputy-Commandant  in  the  early  part 
of  Todd's  administration,  and  how  he  came  to  be  super- 
seded by  this  soft-hearted  Thimoth6? 

We  should  have  been  utterly  unable  to  answer  these 
questions  but  for  a  paragraph  written  upon  the  inside  of 
the  front  cover  of  this  book,  which  is  as  follows : 

"Kaskaskias  in  the  Illinois  29th  April  1782.  This  day 
10  o'clock  A,  M.  I  was  taken  out  of  my  house  by  J.  Neal 
Dodge  on  an  order  given  by  J  no.  Dodge  in  despite  of  the 
Civil  authority  disregarding  the  laws,  and  on  the  mali- 
tious  alugation  of  Jno.  Williams  and  Michel  Pevante  as 
may  appear  by  their  deposition.  1  was  confined  by 
tyrannick  military  force  without  making  any  legal  aplica- 
tion  to  the  Civil  Magistrates — 30th  The  Attorney  for  the 
State,  La  Buinieux,  presented  a  petition  to  the  court 
against  Richard  Winston,  State  Prisoner  in  their  custody 
the  contents  of  which  he  (the  Attorney  for  the  State) 
ought  to  have  communicated  to  me  or  my  attorney,  if  any 
I  had."  It  will  be  remembered  that  when  Todd  first 
went  away  from  Kaskaskia,  leaving  Winston  in  com- 
mand, he  advised  him,  by  letter,  by  all  means  to  keep  up 
a  good  understanding  with  Colonel  Clark  and  the  officers, 
telling  him  if  this  was  not  the  case  he  would  be  unhappy. 
We  can.  only  conclude  that  the  unlucky  Winston  had  at 
this  time  neglected  this  injunction,  as  his  trouble  seems 
to  have  been  with  the  military,  and  in  consequence  was 
very  unhappy.    At  all  events,  he  had  fallen  into  disgrace, 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  277 

of  course  had  lost  his  office,  and  was  imprisoned,  doubt- 
less in  the  old  French  commandant's  house,  which 
served  as  the  headquarters  of  the  successive  governments 
of  the  Illinois  country,  even  down  to  the  organization  of 
our  State  when  it  became  the  first  State  House.  Here 
shut  up,  perhaps  in  the  Governor's  room,  he  found  this 
Record- Book,  and  wrote  his  sorrowful  tale  within  it. 
And  so  it  preserves  to  us,  a  century  after,  poor  Richard 
Winston's  protest  against  "tyrannick  military  force." 

The  remaining  pages  of  this  book  are  occupied  with  a 
brief  record  in  the  French  language  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  court  of  Kaskaskia,  from  June  5,  1787,  to  Feb- 
ruary 15,  1788.  During  this  period  it  seems  to  be  pretty 
much  in  the  hands  of  one  family,  as  three  of  the  five 
justices  are  named  Beauvais.  Antoine  Beauvais  is  the 
presiding  justice,  and  Vital  Beauvais,  and  St.  Gemme 
Beauvais,  are  two  of  his  four  associates.  For  a  long 
time  they  apparently  do  nothing  but  meet  one  month  and 
adjourn  to  the  next,  as  if  determined  in  this  way  to 
regain  the  dignity  of  which  the  court  was  deprived  by 
Colonel  Todd's  peremptory  order  to  their  predecessors  to 
hold  a  session,  despite  their  order  of  adjournment.  On 
October  25,  1787,  they  settle  down  to  business,  at  what 
they  call  an  extraordinary  session,  to  try  a  case  between 
our  good  friend  Demunbrunt,  and  one  Francis  Carbo- 
neaux.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Thimothd  bought  the 
"Taffia"  he  gave  to  the  Indians  from  Carboneaux,  and  per- 
haps he  had  forgotten  to  pay  for  it.  The  details,  and 
the  result  of  the  cause,  are  not  given.  The  court  pursues 
the  even  tenor  of  its  way  with  commendable  regularity, 
meeting  once  a  month,  in  the  morning,  and  immediately 
adjourning  to  the  next  month,  but  holding  an  extraor- 
dinary session  whenever  it  has  a  case  to  try  (and  it  had 


278     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

two,  all  told),  until  January  15,  1788.  At  this  date,  it, 
for  the  first  time,  seemingly,  has  to  deal  with  the  subject  of 
jurymen,  and  solemnly  determines  that  each  juror  from 
Prairie  du  Rocher  shall  have  twenty  -  five  francs,  and 
thereupon  adjourns.  It  meets  in  the  afternoon  and 
impanels  a  jury  to  try  a  cause  in  which  John  Edgar  is  plain- 
tiff, and  Thomas  Green,  defendant,  and  with  a  few  similar 
minutes  its  record  ceases,  and  this  book  comes  to  an  end. 
Its  own  story  is  curious  enough  to  entitle  it  to  preser- 
vation, if  only  for  its  age  and  the  vicissitudes  through 
which  it  has  passed.  Made  in  Virginia  more  than  one 
hundred  years  ago,  brought  the  long  journey  thence  to 
Illinois,  at  that  day  exceeding  in  risk  and  time  a  modern 
trip  around  the  world,  in  use  here  in  the  infancy  of  the 
Republic,  then  cast  aside  and  forgotten  for  almost  a  cen- 
tury, and  lately  rescued  by  the  merest  chance  from 
destruction,  it  has  now,  by  the  formal  vote  of  the  Board 
of  Commissibners  of  Randolph  County,  Illinois,  the  lineal 
successors  of  our  first  County- Lieutenant,  been  placed, 
we  hope  permanently,  in  the  custody  of  the  Chicago  His- 
torical Society.  And  when  we  consider  that  its  opening 
pages  were  inscribed  by  the  first  Governor  of  the  State  of 
Virginia,  who  was  one  of  the  foremost  men  of  the  Revo- 
lution, that  it  is  mainly  filled  with  the  handiwork  of  the 
first  County-Lieutenant  of  the  great  Northwest  Territory, 
that  it  contains  the  record  of  one  of  the  first  courts  of 
common  law  in  Illinois,  and  above  all,  that  it  is  a  sum- 
mary of  the  beginning  of  Republican  institutions  here, 
and,  in  fact,  the  record  of  the  origin  of  our  State,  this 
common -looking  book,  with  its  coarse  paper  and  few 
pages  of  faded  handwriting,  becomes  an  unique  histor- 
ical memorial,  worthy  to  be  treasured  by  the  people  of 
Illinois  with  reverent  care  for  all  time  to  come. 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  279 

And  with  it  too  should  be  treasured  the  memory  of  that 
brave  and  able  man,  John  Todd,  a  pioneer  of  progress, 
education,  and  liberty,  and  the  real  founder  of  this  Com- 
monwealth, who  served  his  countrymen  long  and  well,  and 
died  a  noble  death,  fighting  for  their  homes  and  firesides 
against  a  savage  enemy,  and  giving  his  life,  as  he  had 
given  the  best  of  his  years  and  strength,  for  the  cause  of 
civilization  and  free  government  in  the  western  world. 


ILLINOIS   IN   THE   REVOLUTION 

The  region  which  is  now  Illinois  has  its  own  associa- 
tions with  the  American  Revolution,  although  so  remote 
from  the  scene  of  the  outbreak  and  of  many  of  the  events 
of  that  great  contest.  In  1763  the  French  King,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  victory  of  Wolfe  over  Montcalm  on  the 
plains  of  Abraham  at  Quebec,  ceded  it  to  Great  Britain. 
An  interregnum  of  two  years  occurred  before  its  new 
master  could  reduce  it  to  possession.  It  was  the  western 
most  of  the  lands  to  which  George  the  Third  claimed  title 
under  the  French  cession,  and  his  representatives  made 
repeated  attempts  to  occupy  it.  But  these  were  foiled  by 
the  power  and  address  of  that  sovereign  of  the  wilder- 
ness, the  red  King  Pontiac,who  really  ruled  Illinois  from 
1763  to  1765.  But  Pontiac  ultimately  yielded  to  the 
inevitable,  and  gloomily  instructed  his  dusky  hordes  to 
leave  the  waterways  to  the  west  unobstructed. 

Thereupon  a  detachment  of  soldiers  under  young  Cap- 
tain Stirling,  who  was  afterwards  to  win  distinction  as  a 
general  at  Waterloo,  came  from  Pittsburg  by  the  Ohio 
and  the  Mississippi  to  old  Fort  Chartres.  Here,  on  Octo- 
ber 2,  1765,  as  the  Highlanders  presented  arms  and  the 
British  and  French  commandants  exchanged  the  formal 
courtesies  of  the  occasion,  the  white  banner  of  the  Bour- 
bons was  lowered  never  to  float  in  Illinois  again,  and  the 
meteor  flag  of  England  streamed  in  its  stead.  And  thus 
Illinois,  then  inhabited  only  by  Frenchmen  and  by  Indians 
friendly  to  the  French,  became  a  colony  of  Great  Britain 
less  than  ten  years  before  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution. 

280 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  REVOLUTION 


281 


Of  the  population  of  the  new  colony  at  the  time  it  was 
thus  occupied,  various  estimates  have  been  made.  After 
the  cession  many  of  the  French  inhabitants  crossed  the 
Mississippi  and  settled  at  what  is  now  St.  Louis,  believ- 
ing that  to  be  still  French  territory.  Their  surprise  and 
grief  were  great  when  they  learned  some  time  later  that 
the  French  King  had,  by  a  secret  treaty  made  at  the  time 
of  the  cession  to  England,  transferred  New  Orleans  and 
the  whole  country  west  of  the  Mississippi  to  Spain.  This 
checked  the  emigration,  for  Spain  was  almost  as  hateful 
to  Frenchmen  as  England.  In  a  number  of  cases  houses 
had  been  floated  across  the  river,  and  two  of  the  five 
flourishing  French  villages  in  Illinois,  Ste.  Anne  of  Fort 
Chartres  and  Prairie  du  Pont,  were  almost  entirely  depop- 
ulated, and  have  since  died  out.  The  other  three,  Kas- 
kaskia,  Prairie  du  Rocher  and  Cahokia,  still  exist,  and 
preserve  many  quaint  French  and  Canadian  ways  and 
customs,  but  none  of  them  in  as  prosperous  a  condition 
as  formerly.  At  all  events,  when  Illinois  came  under  the 
English  dominion,  exclusive  of  the  roaming  Indians,  its 
population  did  not  exceed  two  thousand  whites  and  one 
thousand  negroes,  the  latter  all  held  in  slavery.  Eng- 
lish traders  soon  found  their  way  there,  and  among  the 
few  records  we  have  of  that  period  are  the  account 
books  of  a  post  trader  at  Kaskaskia,  which  were  found  at 
Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  a  few  years  ago,  and  throw 
curious  side  lights  upon  the  history  of  Illinois  just  before 
the  Revolution. 

The  causes  from  which  the  Revolution  resulted  were 
at  work  on  the  seaboard,  and,  strange  to  say,  produced 
an  effect  even  among  the  handful  of  people  in  this  wild 
region,  so  remote  and  so  difficult  of  access.  It  was  an 
exceeding  surprise  to  the  English  officials  in  Canada  and 


282     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

the  Northwest  to  find  that  the  Frenchmen  in  Illinois,  so 
recently  relieved  from  the  yoke  of  an  absolute  despotism, 
took  as  naturally  to  the  new  ideas  of  liberty  as  if  they  had 
been  of  English  birth.  These  pioneers,  living  on  the  far- 
off  frontier  (for  Illinois  was  then  emphatically  the  Eng- 
lish frontier  in  North  America,  all  west  of  it  belonging  to 
another  nation),  practically  said  to  the  authorities  of  Eng- 
land: "We  have  become  Englishmen  and  we  want  the 
rights  of  Englishmen. ' '  At  such  demands  the  head  of 
the  British  Colonial  Office  became  irate,  and  said  that  he 
never  had  heard  of  such  barefaced  presumption  in  his 
life,  that  it  could  not  be  tolerated  and  that  it  must  be  put 
down  and  punished.  But  these  sturdy  Illinoisans  were 
not  one  whit  afraid.  Every  movement  along  the  Atlantic 
for  colonial  rights  and  then  for  independence  met  a  ready 
response  and  sympathy  in  this  part  of  the  interior.  And 
the  celerity  and  accuracy  with  which  such  news  reached 
them  is  really  marvelous.  Fearless  men,  taking  their 
lives  in  their  hands,  toiled  over  the  Alleghenies,  and 
paddled  along  the  great  rivers,  by  danger  haunted  pass 
and  shore  to  bear  the  news  to  Illinois  of  the  repeal  of  the 
Stamp  Act  and  the  successive  steps  of  colonial  independ- 
ence, and  hearty  rejoicings  went  up  from  our  prairies 
when  these  messengers  of  freedom  arrived. 

In  1771  the  people  of  Illinois  assembled  in  a  general 
meeting  at  Kaskaskia  and  sent  a  demand  to  the  English 
government  for  institutions  like  those  of  Connecticut, 
and  the  right  to  appoint  their  own  governor  and  all  civil 
magistrates.  This  shows  a  remarkable  acquaintance  with 
the  affairs  of  the  eastern  colonies,  for  Connecticut  alone 
among  those  of  New  England  had  preserved  her  ancient 
charter  and  it  was  the  freest  of  them  all.  This  demand 
was  forwarded  through  General  Gage,  then  in  command 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  283 

at  Boston.  In  transmitting  it  to  the  home  authorities  he 
wrote:  "A  regular  constitutional  government  for  the 
people  of  Illinois  cannot  be  suggested.  They  don't 
deserve  so  much  attention."  "I  agree  with  you," 
rejoined  Lord  Hillsborough,  then  at  the  head  of  the  Brit- 
ish Colonial  Office,  "a  regular  government  for  that  dis- 
trict would  be  highly  improper."  His  successor,  Lord 
Dartmouth,  took  the  same  view,  and  described  the  ideas 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Illinois  district  with  regard  to 
a  civil  constitution  as  very  extravagant,  and  rejected 
their  proposition  to  take  some  part  in  the  election  of  their 
own  rulers  as  absurd  and  inadmissible.  He  therefore 
prepared  and  forwarded  to  Illinois  what  he  called,  "A 
Sketch  of  Government  for  Illinois. ' '  It  was  very  sim- 
ple. It  provided,  in  a  few  paragraphs,  that  all  powers 
should  be  vested  in  officers  appointed  by  the  Crown,  and 
none  left  in  the  people.  Upon  receipt  of  this  precious 
document  a  storm  of  wrath  arose  in  the  prairie  land. 
The  people  of  Illinois  again  assembled  at  Kaskaskia,  and 
under  the  lead  of  Daniel  Blouin,  a  liberty-loving  Canadian 
of  French  descent,  forwarded  by  him  as  their  agent,  to 
Lord  Dartmouth,  their  indignant  protest  against  the  pro- 
posed "Sketch  of  Government,"  which  they  rejected,  to 
use  their  own  language,  "as  oppressive  and  absurd,  much 
worse  than  that  of  any  of  the  French  or  even  of  the 
Spanish  colonies. "  And  they  boldly  added,  "Should  a 
government  so  evidently  tyrannical  be  established,  it 
could  be  of  no  long  duration.  There  would  exist  the 
necessity  of  its  being  abolished."  There  is  something 
very  fine  about  this  action  on  the  part  of  this  little  band 
of  men  of  foreign  birth  transferred  against  their  will  to 
the  British  Crown,  but  determined  to  have  all  the  rights 
which  that  transfer  gave  them.     Though  not  bom  free, 


284     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

in  the  sense  that  Englishmen  were,  they  at  least  resolved 
to  die  free.  So  spoke  the  men  of  Illinois,  and  so  they 
bore  themselves  in  the  days  just  preceding  the  Revolu- 
tion, Great  honor  is  due  to  them  and  to  their  leader, 
Daniel  Blouin,  a  "village  Hampden,"  whose  name 
deserves  to  be  rescued  from  oblivion.  No  wonder  that 
some  of  George  Third's  friends  doubted  the  power  of 
England  to  conquer  the  old  colonies,  when  the  new 
ones  spoke  the  tongue  of  liberty  as  if  it  were  their  birth- 
right. 

It  is  probable  that  attempts  would  have  been  made  by 
the  government  to  bridle  the  unruly  colonists  of  Illinois 
but  for  the  more  urgent  needs  for  troops  elsewhere.  At 
the  commencement  of  the  Revolutionary  War  the  British 
regular  garrisons  were  withdrawn  from  the  Illinois  posts 
to  Canada  and  were  enrolled  in  the  forces  operating  from 
that  country  against  the  colonies.  Their  places  were  sup- 
plied by  the  local  militia  under  the  command  of  British 
officials  appointed  by  the  Governor-General  of  Canada. 
Very  soon  expeditions  began  to  be  planned  in  Illinois 
against  the  English  forts  to  the  eastward,  regardless  of 
these  officials  who  were  striving  to  maintain  the  author- 
ity of  the  Mother  Country  in  the  rude,  palisaded  forts  at 
Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia,  within  the  present  limits  of  the 
State  of  Illinois.  The  most  important  of  these  expedi- 
tions were  directed  against  Fort  St.  Joseph,  which  stood 
on  the  River  St.  Joseph  within  the  present  limits  of  Mich- 
igan, and  but  a  mile  or  so  from  the  city  of  Niles  in  that 
State.  It  was  garrisoned  by  a  small  English  force,  and 
was  considered  a  very  important  post,  being  located  on 
the  great  east  and  west  Indian  trail,  not  far  from  the  port- 
age to  the  headwaters  of  the  Kankakee  River,  the  most 
important  tributary  of  the  Illinois. 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  285 

In  October,  1777,  a  jovial  Irisliman  named  Tom  Brady, 
and  a  French  half-breed  named  Hamelin,  residing  at 
Cahokia,  in  the  Illinois  country,  organized  a  party  of  six- 
teen volunteers.  They  crossed  the  prairies  to  Fort  St. 
Joseph,  surprised  it  at  night,  and  defeated  and  paroled 
the  garrison  of  twenty-one  regulars.  They  captured  a 
quantity  of  merchandise,  burned  what  they  could  not 
carry  away,  and  also  fired  the  buildings  and  palisades  of 
the  little  stockade.  Returning  flushed  with  victory,  they 
were  overtaken  at  the  Calumet  River,  not  far  from  the 
present  South  Chicago,  by  the  foes  whom  they  had  just 
overcome  and  their  Indian  allies.  The  Illinois  party,  in 
their  turn,  were  surprised  and  routed,  and  twelve  were 
taken  prisoners,  including  the  redoubtable  Brady.  He 
was  sent  to  Canada,  escaped,  found  his  way  to  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  thence  by  the  Ohio  River  to  the  Illinois  terri- 
tory, where  he  afterward  became  sheriff  of  St.  Clair 
County.  His  career  illustrates  the  indomitable  character 
of  the  Illinois  office  seeker.  Warfare,  imprisonment,  exile, 
hardships,  all  were  unavailing  to  prevent  Tom  Brady 
from  returning  to  his  bailiwick  and  securing  an  office. 

The  failure  of  Brady's  undertaking,  and  the  death  of 
some  of  his  comrades  and  the  capture  of  others,  aroused 
a  desire  for  revenge  among  the  men  of  Illinois.  In  the 
summer  of  1778  one  Paulette  Meillet,  a  Canadian  French- 
man residing  near  the  site  of  Peoria,  of  which  he  was  the 
founder,  resolved  to  undertake  the  task  of  obtaining  sat- 
isfaction. He  led  a  force  of  three  hundred  French  and 
Indians  from  his  place  of  residence,  probably  by  the  Illi- 
nois and  Kankakee  Rivers,  to  St.  Joseph.  Rumors  of  his 
coming  had  caused  the  garrison  to  take  some  steps 
towards  putting  the  fort  in  a  state  of  defence,  but  these 
were  of  little  effect.      The  impetuous  mob  of  Meillet 's 


286    CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

force  carried  the  palisades,  though  mounted  with  small 
cannon,  and  the  English  troops  surrendered  at  discretion. 
They  were  paroled  and  sent  to  Canada,  the  goods  col- 
lected by  the  Indian  traders  were  seized,  and  again  the 
torch  was  applied.  The  victorious  Illinois  soldiers 
returned  at  their  leisure,  and  no  enemy  dared  to  follow 
their  trail. 

Fort  St.  Joseph  was  destined  to  figure  again  in  Rev- 
olutionary annals  and  this  time  in  connection  with  events 
of  greater  importance.  In  January,  1781,  Don  Francesco 
Cruvat,  the  Spanish  commandant  at  Saint  Louis,  acting 
undoubtedly  under  orders  from  his  home  government, 
sent  a  force  to  capture  this  post.  It  crossed  the  prairies 
of  Illinois  in  the  dead  of  winter,  captured  the  fort  with- 
out difficulty,  and  took  formal  possession  of  it  and  of  all 
the  region  watered  by  the  Illinois  River  and  its  tribu- 
taries, in  the  name  of  the  King  of  Spain. 

I  have  departed  from  the  chronological  order  of  Revo- 
lutionary incidents  associated  with  Illinois  in  order  to 
present  those  relating  to  Fort  St.  Joseph  in  succession. 
After  the  Spaniards  left  it  was  occupied  as  a  trading  post, 
and  nominally  at  least  came  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States.  It  has  had  a  remarkable  history,  and  one 
hardly  realizes  that  this  now  quiet  spot,  within  a  stone's 
throw  of  which  we  pass  and  repass  on  the  Michigan  Cen- 
tral Railway,  has  been  the  scene  of  so  many  stirring 
events.  It  is  the  site  of  a  fort  founded  by  the  French, 
ceded  to  the  English,  captured  by  Pontiac,  twice  taken  by 
our  troops  in  the  Revolutionary  War  and  again  by  Spain. 
Besides  the  banner  of  the  great  Republic,  the  flags  of 
three  sovereigns  have  floated  over  it,  and  one  may  well 
say  four,  if  the  warrior  crest  of  the  red  King  Pontiac  is 
included,  as  it  should  be,  for  he  was  the  kingliest  man  of 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  287 

them  all.  One  may  truly  say  of  him  as  Rufus  Choate 
said  of  King  Philip  of  Pokanoket:  "I  would  not  wrong 
his  warrior  shade  by  classing  him  with  any  of  the  so- 
called  sovereigns  who  in  his  time  sat  upon  the  thrones  of 
Europe. ' ' 
j/  Before  Meillet's  force  had  set  out  from  Peoria,  another 
expedition  was  on  its  way  down  the  Ohio,  which  was, 
perhaps,  the  first  to  fly  the  stars  and  stripes  on  western 
waters.  James  Willing,  a  young  Philadelphian,  whose 
brother  was  a  partner  of  the  famous  Robert  Morris,  had 
been  engaged  in  trading  at  the  south  when  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  broke  out.  He  came  north  and  formed  a 
plan  to  wrest  the  Southwest  from  the  British  Crown.  He 
was  commissioned  a  captain  in  the  Continental  navy, 
crossed  the  Alleghenies  to  Fort  Pitt  with  a  company  of 
marines,  enlisted  others,  built  an  armed  vessel  and  set 
sail  from  Pittsburg  in  January,  1778.  The  news  of  his 
approach  caused  positive  terror  among  the  English  gar- 
risons in  the  Northwest.  He  captured  traders  along  the 
Ohio,  skirted  the  entire  southern  boundary  of  what  is  now 
the  State  of  Illinois,  and  at  the  junction  of  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  turned  southward,  to  the  immense  relief  of 
the  English  commandant  of  the  Illinois  country.  This 
was  M.  Philippe  Rocheblave,  a  Frenchman  in  the  British 
service,  and  the  last  royal  governor  of  the  Illinois.  It  is 
very  interesting  to  read  his  letters,  now  preserved  in  the 
British  Museum,  written  from  Kaskaskia  to  the  Gov- 
ernor-General of  Canada.  He  alternates  between  hope 
and  fear,  as  different  accounts  of  Willing's  progress 
reach  him.  He  confounds  him  with  George  Rogers 
Clark,  of  whose  expedition  to  the  Illinois  some  floating 
rumors  had  reached  him.  And  when  at  length  he  learns 
that  Willing's  vessel  had  really  gone  southward  he  utters 


/ 


288     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

a  pious  ejaculation  of  thankfulness  for  his  escape  from 
the  "Long  Knives,"  as  the  Kentuckians  were  called. 
But  on  that  very  day,  and  probably  soon  after  the  dis- 
patch of  the  Indian  messenger  who  carried  his  letter  to 
Canada,  he  found  himself  in  the  power  of  the  leader  of 
the  "Long  Knives,"  George  Rogers  Clark  himself.  Wil- 
ling had  a  series  of  adventures  at  the  south,  and  was  ulti- 
mately taken  prisoner  by  the  British  near  Mobile,  and 
would  have  been  hanged  by  them  but  for  Washington's 
prompt  notification  that  he  would  hang  a  British  officer 
if  Willing  was  executed.  Some  of  his  men  found  their 
way  northward,  and  joined  George  Rogers  Clark  in  Illi- 
nois. Willing  remained  a  captive  for  years  on  a  British 
prison  ship,  and  was  finally  exchanged,  broken  in  health 
and  spirits,  and  reached  his  home,  where  he  died  soon 
after.  He  sleeps  with  his  kindred  in  the  vaults  of  an  old 
church  in  Philadelphia. 

The  great  event  of  the  history  of  Illinois  in  the  Revo- 
lution has  been  so  often  told  as  to  need  but  brief  mention 
here.  George  Rogers  Clark's  splendid  campaign  has 
become  a  household  word.  This  young  Virginian,  with 
a  handful  of  men,  over  great  obstacles  and  through  great 
privations,  captured  the  British  garrisons  at  Kaskaskia  in 
what  is  now  Illinois,  and  at  Vincennes,  in  what  is  now 
Indiana.  In  his  wonderful  march  to  the  latter  place 
across  the  flooded  prairies  and  the  swollen  streams  of 
southern  Illinois,  he  was  accompanied  by  battalions  com- 
posed of  the  young  Frenchmen  of  Illinois,  who  quitted 
themselves  like  men.  The  whole  region  now  comprised 
in  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Illinois  and 
Wisconsin  was  made  a  single  county  of  Virginia,  under 
the  name  of  Illinois,  and  governed  by  officials  appointed 
by  the  Old  Dominion.     Clark's  campaign  and  Virginia's 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  289 

subsequent  occupancy  of  the  country  turned  the  scale  in 
our  favor  at  the  negotiation  of  the  Treaty  of  1783,  when 
Spain  strove  hard  to  acquire  all  of  this  region  by  virtue 
of  her  expedition  to  St.  Joseph,  and  France,  our  ally,  but 
already  jealous  of  the  new  nation,  was  quite  willing  that 
she  should  have  it.  George  Rogers  Clark,  by  deeds 
mainly  occurring  on  the  soil  of  Illinois,  added  to  our 
country  a  territory  of  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  area  of 
the  original  thirteen  colonies. 

Clark's  force  was  not  suflficient  for  him  to  guard  the 
whole  of  the  conquered  territory,  and  hence  a  large  part 
of  the  Illinois  region  was  still  open  to  raids  from  the 
enemy.  Major  De  Peyster  was  the  British  commandant 
at  Mackinac.  Under  his  orders  an  invading  expedition 
was  sent  in  the  summer  of  1779  to  attack  the  trading  post 
of  Le  P6,  which  was  situated  within  the  present  limits  of 
Peoria,  Illinois.  It  had  been  an  important  fur-trading  sta- 
tion under  the  French  regime,  and  it  was  still  maintained 
by  traders  of  that  race,  who  were  friendly  to  the  Amer- 
icans and  rejoiced  in  Clark's  conquest.  They  had  built  a 
stockade  which  De  Peyster  feared  might  be  of  advantage 
to  the  Virginian  troops  in  case  they  moved  further  north- 
ward, and  therefore  wished  to  destroy.  The  commander 
of  the  expedition  was  Charles  Gautier  de  Verville,  a 
Canadian  in  the  British  service,  who  was  employed  dur- 
ing the  Revolution  in  recruiting  Indian  allies  for  the  Brit- 
ish in  the  Northwest.  His  soldiers  were  almost  entirely 
Indians  from  various  tribes.  He  undoubtedly  came  from 
Mackinac  along  the  west  coast  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  by 
the  lonely  little  Chicago  River  and  the  portage  to  the  Des 
Plaines  River,  and  thence  down  the  Illinois.  Many 
times  this  route  had  been  followed  by  parties  of  Indians 
and  of  Frenchmen  in  the  early  days  of  the  Northwest, 


290     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

but  this  is  the  first  time  it  appears  in  Revolutionary  his- 
tory.    De  Verville's  approach  was  so  stealthy  and  so 
sudden  that  the  startled  French  traders  had  no  time  to 
prepare  a  defence,   and  their  stockade  was  taken   and 
burned.      But  fear  of  retribution   from  Clark   and   his 
"Long  Knives"  led  De  Verville  to  beat  a  hasty  retreat, 
and  he  apparently  returned  as  he  came  by  the  site  of  Chi- 
cago, across  which  trooped  these  natives  allies  of  Great 
Britain  in  their  war  paint,  adorned  with  the  spoils  of  Le  Pe. 
A  more  formidable    expedition    menaced  the  Illinois 
settlements  in  the  following  year.     Spain  had  declared 
war  against  Great  Britain,  which  prepared  to  attack  the 
Spanish  posts  on  the  Mississippi,  with  a  fleet  and  army  to 
ascend  that  river.     The  British  officers  in  the  West  were 
directed  to  cooperate  with  the  expedition  to  descend  the 
river.     A  motley  horde  of  Indians  was  assembled  at  the 
portage  between  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  Rivers,  and  went 
down  the  Mississippi  to  St.   Louis,  where  they  attacked 
the  outskirts  of  the  town  and  slew  a  dozen  or  more  peo- 
ple, but  were  soon  driven  away.      One  of  their  bands 
crossed  the  river  and  did  some  mischief  at  Cahokia  in 
Illinois,  but  was  beaten  off,  and  the  expedition  divided 
itself  into  various  bands  and  fled  northward,  some  return- 
ing by  the  Chicago  portage.    The  result  might  have  been 
different  had  the  traders  awaited  the  arrival  of  Charles 
de  Longlade,  a  famous  partisan  of  Green  Bay,  who  was 
leading  a  band  of  Indians  by  the  way  of  the  Chicago  and 
Illinois  Rivers  to  join  them.     But  he  failed  to  cooperate, 
and  the  whole  affair  amounted  to  nothing.     Old  Jean 
Baptiste  Pointe  au  Sable,  the  negro  trader  then  living 
alone  at  the  Chicago  River,  saw  them  come  and  go,  but 
was  protected  by  his  British  commission,   and  suffered 
nothing  at  their  hands. 


ILLINOIS  IN  THE  REVOLUTION  291 

Another  Revolutionary  expedition  in  Illinois  in  behalf 
of  the  American  cause  was  destined  to  an  equally  useless 
but  more  mournful  conclusion.  It  is  a  sad  and  strange 
tale,  and  in  some  respects  remains  an  unsolved  mystery 
to  students  of  Illinois  history  to  this  day.  Early  in  the 
Revolutionary  War  a  French  ofi&cer  named  La  Balme 
landed  at  Boston,  apparently  intending  to  offer  his  serv- 
ices to  the  colonial  cause.  His  journal,  which  has  been 
preserved,  shows  that  he  was  a  man  of  refinement  and 
education,  and  inspired  with  an  ardent  love  of  liberty. 
Why  he  did  not  enter  the  Continental  army  is  not  known, 
nor  whether  he  ever  obtained  any  commission  or  author- 
ity from  our  government.  But  shortly  after  Clark's  con- 
quest of  the  Northwest  La  Balme  appeared  in  Illinois 
with  arms  and  money,  and  began  recruiting  a  force  ta 
attack  the  British  post  at  Detroit.  He  visited  the  French 
villages,  and  his  appearance  and  earnest  words  created  a 
deep  impression.  One  of  Clark's  officers  who  saw  him 
there  could  not  learn  by  what  authority  he  was  acting, 
but  writes  that  "the  people  run  after  him  as  if  he  were 
the  very  Masiah  himself."  With  companies  of  young 
men  from  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia  he  crossed  Illinois  to 
the  old  French  village  of  Vincennes,  where  he  enrolled 
other  companies.  A  fragment  of  a  song  still  exists 
which  purports  to  have  been  sung  by  the  girls  of  the  vil- 
lage in  praise  of  those  young  Frenchmen  who  were  going 
to  march  against  the  forces  of  "perfidious  Albion,"  and 
doubtless  was  a  patent  aid  to  La  Balme's  recruiting.  He 
left  Vincennes  with  a  well-equipped  little  force,  ascended 
the  Wabash,  and  attacked  an  English  trading  post  near 
the  present  city  of  Fort  Wayne,  Indiana,  and  captured  it 
with  its  stores.  Flushed  with  success  and  sated  with 
plunder,  La  Balme's  troops  kept  little  guard  over  their 


292     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

night  encampment.  The  enraged  traders,  summoning 
their  Indian  friends,  fell  upon  the  unsuspecting  French- 
men before  morning,  slew  La  Balme,  utterly  routed  his 
forces,  and  recaptured  their  goods.  Some  prisoners, 
including  La  Balme 's  adjutant,  were  sent  to  Canada,  and 
in  the  Canadian  archives  to-day  are  preserved  La 
Balme's  journal  and  French  commissions,  but  no  papers 
which  throw  any  further  light  upon  this  affair.  Had  he 
succeeded  in  capturing  Detroit,  La  Balme's  name  might 
have  gone  down  in  history  with  that  of  George  Rogers 
Clark,  whose  dearest  wish  after  the  conquest  of  Illinois 
was  the  taking  of  that  place.  As  it  is  poor  La  Balme  is 
but  a  name  and  nothing  more. 

Manuscripts  and  official  documents  and  traditions  pre- 
serve the  accounts  of  other  expeditions  less  important  or 
less  striking,  of  forays  and  skirmishes,  of  interesting 
transactions,  all  associated  with  Illinois  in  the  Revolu- 
tion. But  enough  has  been  related  to  show  that  her  peo- 
ple had  a  part  in  the  great  conflict  and  performed  deeds 
of  which  their  successors  upon  Illinois  soil  have  a  right 
to  be  proud. 


(/ 


THE     MARCH     OF    THE    SPANIARDS     ACROSS 
ILLINOIS 

We  do  not  realize  at  the  present  time  that  the  early 
inhabitants  of  what  is  now  Illinois  had  the  Spaniard  for 
a  neighbor.  Nor  that  the  territory  of  ten  free  and  sov- 
ereign States  of  our  Union  lying  beyond  the  Mississippi 
was  once  as  hopelessly  doomed  to  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
tyranny  as  any  province  of  Old  Spain.  And  His  Most 
Catholic  Majesty  not  only  owned  all  the  country  west  of 
what  some  early  voyagers  finely  call  "the  Eternal 
River, ' '  ^  but  soon  laid  claim  to  the  exclusive  control  of 
its  waters,  and  would  not  suffer  the  Mississippi  to  go 
unvexed  to  the  sea.  This  is  vividly  illustrated  by  a 
single  incident  occurring  in  the  latter  part  of  the  last 
century.  Andrew  Ellicott,  boundary  commissioner  on 
behalf  of  the  United  States  of  America,  after  encamping 
at  the  confluence  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers, 
embarked  upon  the  latter  stream,  and  writes  as  follows 
in  his  journal  of  the  voyage :  "Left  the  shore  at  daylight, 
and  proceeded  down  the  river  to  the  station  of  one  of  the 
Spanish  gallies;  the  master  behaved  very  politely,  but 
informed  us  that  it  would  be  proper  to  remain  at  his  sta- 
tion till  the  next  morning.  (The  next  morning)  we  pro- 
ceeded down  to  New  Madrid  .  .  .  the  commandant 
requested  me  to  continue  there  two  or  three  days. "  ^  It 
was  as  if  a  representative  of  our  government,  leaving 
Cairo  in  Illinois  to-day  to  visit  New  Orleans,  should  be 
halted  by  a  foreigfn  armed  vessel,  taken  into  custody  for 

293 


294     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

several  days,  and  only  suffered  to  proceed  at  the  will  of  a 
petty  officer  of  another  nation.  Such  was  the  situation 
during  the  American  Revolution,  after  Spain  had  been 
induced  by  France  in  1779  to  take  part  in  the  war  against 
Great  Britain.  She  soon  made  herself  mistress  of  the 
English  posts  at  Baton  Rouge,  Natchez,  and  Mobile,  and 
on  these  conquests  based  a  claim  to  the  region  east  of  the 
Mississippi,  at  least  as  far  as  the  River  Ohio,  and  at  the 
period  now  in  question  was  preparing  to  strengthen  her 
pretensions  and  to  include  in  them  what  we  know  as  the 
Northwest. 

The  Spanish  capital  of  what  was  afterwards  known  as 
Upper  Louisiana  was  the  little  village  of  St.  Louis, 
founded  as  a  trading  post  by  the  French  in  1764.  The 
Spaniards  enclosed  it  with  a  stockade  and  some  stone 
fortifications,  by  reason  of  the  attack  made  upon  the 
place  in  1780  by  the  English  and  Indians  from  Michilli- 
mackinac'  Its  governor  in  the  year  of  grace  1781  was 
Don  Francesco  Cruvat,  Brevet  Lieutenant-Colonel  of 
Infantry,  Captain  in  the  Regiment  of  Louisiana,  Com- 
mander and  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  western  part  and 
districts  of  the  Illinois,  for  His  Most  Catholic  Majesty  the 
King  of  Spain.  And  in  the  month  of  January  of  that 
year,  under  Don  Francesco's  auspices,  and  from  his  garri- 
son, went  forth  the  expedition  whose  fortunes  we  are  to 
follow.  It  was  the  second  day  of  the  month  when  the 
dwellers  on  the  few  streets  near  the  river  bank  which 
comprised  the  village  of  St.  Louis  might  have  been  seen 
flocking  to  the  long  stone  house,  constructed  by  Pierre 
Laclede,  the  founder  of  the  place,  and  then  the  official 
residence  of  the  Spanish  lieutenant-governor.*  They 
came  together  to  witness  the  departure  of  a  force  which 
all  perhaps  felt  to  be  charged  with  an  important  mission. 


MARCH  OF  SPANIARDS  ACROSS  ILLINOIS  295 

though  few  knew  its  object.  On  the  wide  stone  steps 
which  led  up  from  the  street  to  the  main  floor  of  the 
government  house,  we  may  suppose  that  the  Governor 
himself  had  taken  his  stand  to  give  his  last  instructions 
and  farewells  to  the  chiefs  of  the  expedition.  There  was 
Don  Eugenio  Pourr^,  the  commander,  ranking  as  Captain 
in  the  Spanish  line,  the  one  man  perhaps,  besides  the 
Governor  who  knew  the  real  purpose  of  the  undertaking ; 
near  him  was  Don  Carlos  Tayon,  the  second  in  com- 
mand, and  a  lieutenant  in  the  royal  service,  perchance 
talking  with  a  very  important  member  of  the  party,  Don 
Luis  Chevalier,  "a  man  well  versed  in  the  language  of 
the  Indians. ' '  And  a  little  apart,  regarding  the  white 
men  with  stolid  indifference,  were  two  sachems  of  the 
red  race,  whose  names,  as  nearly  as  the  Spanish  account 
has  preserved  them,  were  Eleturnoand  Naquigen.'  The 
latter  is  probably  identical  with  Nakioun,  a  chief  of  the 
Ottawa  tribe  bordering  on  Lake  Michigan,  with  whom 
George  Rogers  Clark  held  negotiations  after  his  capture 
of  Kaskaskia.*  "Great  Chiefs,"  they  are  called  in  the 
old  chronicle,  and  great  perhaps  in  some  respects  they 
were.  At  all  events  the  journey  on  which  they  were 
going  and  for  which  they  were  specially  selected  required 
a  combination  of  nerve,  endurance  and  skill  which 
amounted  to  greatness. 

In  the  snow  of  the  village  street,  in  front  of  the  gov- 
ernment building,  were  drawn  up  the  little  band  whose 
leaders  we  have  mentioned.  There  were  sixty-five  mili- 
tia men,  of  whom  thirty  are  said  to  have  been  Spaniards,^ 
and  the  remainder  probably  of  French  birth  or  descent, 
but  all  of  them  sworn  subjects  of  the  Spanish  sovereign, 
and  fired  with  zeal  to  strike  a  blow  against  the  nation 
now  a  foe  of  both  France  and  Spain.     Here  and  there 


396     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

among  them  might  have  been  a  grizzled  veteran  who  had 
fought  for  the  King  of  Spain  in  other  countries,  and  had 
come  to  this  new  land  with  Reilly,  the  subjugator  of  New 
Orleans,  or  as  one  of  the  bodyguard  of  Don  Francesco, 
or  one  of  his  predecessors.  Lounging  near  them  were 
their  allies,  a  band  of  sixty  Indians,  said  to  have  been 
gathered  from  several  tribes,  the  names  of  some  of  which 
have  not  fared  kindly  in  the  contemporary  accounts. 
The  "Sotus,"  for  instance,  are  perhaps  the  Sioux,  or  the 
Sauks.  It  is  possible  that  the  "Otaguos"  are  the  Out- 
agamis  or  Foxes,  or  they  may  be  the  Ottawas.  But  there 
is  something  more  familiar  about  the  "Putuamis,"  as  the 
Spaniard  hath  it,  and  we  can  hardly  go  wrong  in  identi- 
fying them  with  our  old  acquaintances  the  Pottawatta- 
mies,  who  doubtless,  even  then,  by  diligent  attention  to 
the  principal  business  of  their  lives,  were  earning  for 
themselves  the  same  regard  in  which  their  memory  is 
still  held  in  Illinois.  But  the  Governor  and  the  com- 
mander have  exchanged  their  last  words  and  parting 
salutes,  the  signal  is  given,  and  the  long  line  moving  in 
Indian  file,  winds  down  the  bank,  and  across  the  frozen 
surface  of  the  mighty  river,  and  disappears  in  the  forests 
of  the  Illinois  shore. 

It  was  no  ordinary  journey  which  lay  before  them. 
Many  marches  far  more  famous  have  been  of  less  extent 
and  with  fewer  privations.  Four  hundred  miles  or  more, 
by  the  route  they  followed,  in  the  depth  of  winter,  they 
were  to  toil  through  the  snow  and  ice,  amid  forests  and 
over  prairies,  to  reach  their  destination.  They  were 
heavily  laden,  "each  one  with  provisions  for  his  own  sub- 
sistence, and  with  various  merchandise, ' '  says  one  account 
of  this  march,  "which  was  necessary  to  content  in  case  of 
need  the  barbarous   nations  through  whom  they  were 


MARCH  OF  SPANIARDS  ACROSS  ILLINOIS  297 

obliged  to  cross. ' '  *  For  winter  was  not  the  only  foe  they 
had  to  meet.  More  than  one  savage  tribe,  owning  at 
least  a  nominal  allegiance  to  England,  lay  in  their  path. 
Well  was  it  for  them  that  they  had  on  their  staff  Don 
Luis  Chevalier,  the  man  well  versed  in  the  language  of 
the  Indians,  who  was  as  useful  to  this  expedition  as  ever 
the  French  savants  were  to  Napoleon's  army  in  Egypt. 
By  seasonable  negotiations  and  precautions,  by  timely 
gifts,  and  Don  Luis'  successful  diplomacy  with  the 
ambassadors  from  the  dwellers  in  the  forest  and  on  the 
prairie,  the  commander,  says  the  report,  "prevented  con- 
siderable bodies  of  Indians  from  opposing  this  expedi- 
tion, for  it  would  otherwise  have  been  difficult  to  have 
accomplished  the  taking  of  the  post.*  And  what  and 
where  was  this  post  which  was  the  goal  of  this  strange 
and  toilsome  march?  In  brief,  the  party  sought  to  cap- 
ture the  English  fort  of  St.  Joseph,  situated  within  the 
limits  of  the  present  State  of  Michigan. 

In  1 76 1,  after  the  capitulation  of  Montreal,  a  detach- 
ment of  the  60th  British  regiment,  then  called  the  Royal 
Americans,  relieved  the  French  troops  and  hoisted  the 
English  flag  at  this  point.  The  post  was  soon  to  change 
masters  again.  Hardly  two  years  had  passed  when  the 
storm  evoked  by  the  mighty  spirit  of  Pontiac  burst  all 
unexpectedly  upon  the  young  English  ensign,  Schlosser, 
and  his  command  of  fourteen  men,  who  composed  the 
garrison  of  Fort  St.  Joseph ;  and  in  less  than  two  min- 
utes, as  he  declares,  the  fort  was  plundered,  eleven  men 
were  killed,  and  the  commander  and  three  surviving  sol- 
diers were  prisoners  and  on  their  way  to  Detroit."  This 
affair  occurred  eighteen  years  before  the  march  which  is 
the  subject  of  this  paper ;  and  among  the  French  traders 
then  at  the  fort  was  one  M.  Louison  Chevalie,  as  he  is 


298     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

named  in  a  letter  from  an  English  trader  whom  he  saved 
from  being  killed."  This  probably  is  the  same  person 
whom  the  Spaniards  call  Don  Luis  Chevalier,  the  diplo- 
mat of  this  expedition,  and  if  so  his  former  residence  at 
St.  Joseph  and  acquaintance  with  the  Indians  there  must 
have  been  of  great  service.  It  was  a  simple  process  in 
those  days  which  transformed  Monsieur  Louison  into  Don 
Luis.  The  English  were  again  in  possession  of  the  fort 
at  the  era  of  our  story. 

It  was  the  headquarters  of  the  Indian  traders  for  the 
region,  and  had  been  harassed  before."  It  was  one  of 
the  points  from  which  Indian  bands  were  sent  forth  to 
harry  the  American  settlers  in  the  valley  of  the  Ohio. 
The  exact  site  of  the  fort  has  been  somewhat  difficult  to 
ascertain.  The  historians,  from  Parkman  to  quaint  old 
Governor  Reynolds,"  locate  it  on  the  site  of  La  Salle's 
fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  St,  Joseph,  or  at  the  portage  to 
the  Kankakee,  where  South  Bend,  Indiana,  stands.  In  the 
various  accounts  it  skips  back  and  forth  with  the  celerity 
of  a  little  hill,  but  Father  Charlevoix'  narrative  of  his 
visit  to  it  in  1 721,"  and  the  French  maps  of  Danville, 
1746,  Vaugondy,  1753,  Bellin  and  Le  Rouge,  1755,  and 
the  English  map  of  E.  Bowen,  1763,  make  it  quite  cer- 
tain that  it  was  on  the  south  bank  of  the  River  St.  Joseph, 
about  one  mile  west  of  the  present  town  of  Niles,  Michi- 
gan, and  nearly  on  the  same  site  occupied  in  this  century  by 
the  Carey  Mission  to  the  Indians,  And  it  was  at  this 
time  the  nearest  fortification  to  St.  Louis  which  flew  the 
English  flag. 

This  was  the  place  which  the  Government  of  Spain, 
now  vigorously  engaged  in  the  war  against  Great  Brit- 
ain, had  resolved  to  capture,  and  to  this  end  this  march 
across  what  is  now  the  State  of  Illinois  was  made.     It 


MARCH  OF  SPANIARDS  ACROSS  ILLINOIS  299 

was  not  undertaken,  like  the  attempts  of  the  Illinoisans, 
Brady  and  Meillet,"  at  the  season  when  the  rivers  were 
open,  and  shore  and  stream  furnished  a  bountiful  supply 
of  food.  Nor  was  it  against  an  unsuspicious  enemy,  but 
one  doubly  warned,  and  to  all  expectation  on  the  alert 
against  another  attack.  Nor  could  these  bold  fellows 
take  the  most  direct  route  to  the  point  of  attack,  as  pre- 
ceding expeditions  had  done,  for  no  man  might  face  the 
Grand  Prairie  in  winter  and  expect  to  survive.  For  shel- 
ter, and  for  water  and  fuel  as  well,  they  were  compelled 
to  follow  the  courses  of  the  streams  and  the  woods  which 
bordered  them,  and  so  they  journeyed  patiently  north- 
eastward, pushing  forward  in  the  teeth  of  the  wintry 
blasts  which  grew  ever  colder  and  more  dreary.  By  day 
they  plodded  onward,  laden  with  their  heavy  burdens, 
having  before  them  only  the  ice-covered  streams  on  the 
one  hand  and  the  straggling  forests  with  glimpses  of  the 
vast  white  plains  beyond,  on  the  other.  Now  and  then 
some  light-hearted  Frenchman  from  his  place  in  the  line 
breaks  into  song,  or  flings  a  cheery  word  to  a  comrade  in 
advance,  but  for  the  most  part  we  may  imagine  them 
silently  and  steadily  marching  on.  By  night  around  their 
campfires  on  some  wooded  point  above  the  stream,  the 
song  and  jest  go  round,  and  they  exchange  reminiscences 
of  war  and  foray.  And  the  Spaniards  tell  of  their  glori- 
ous capture  of  West  Florida,  but  two  years  before,  when 
their  able  leader,  Calvez,  compelled  the  English  colonel 
at  Baton  Rouge  to  lay  down  his  arms,  and  surrender  that 
post  and  Natchez,  and  stormed  Mobile  and  attacked  Pen- 
sacola.  And  the  Frenchmen  speak  of  their  fathers*  deeds 
or  their  own  at  Braddock's  defeat,  or  their  unavailing 
efforts  to  save  Fort  Du  Quesne  or  Niagara.  The  weather 
was  unusually    severe,   and  their   supplies  but   scanty. 


300     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

"They  suffered,"  says  the  account,  "in  so  extensive  a 
march,  and  so  rigorous  a  season,  the  greatest  inconven- 
ience from  cold  and  hunger."  (Some  years  ago,  in  the 
valley  where  a  large  Indian  village  once  stood,  a  few 
miles  west  of  Danville,  in  Illinois,  three  cannon  balls  of 
European  manufacture  were  found.  The  place  was 
within  range  of  a  small  piece  of  artillery  planted  on  the 
hills  near  by,  and  it  has  been  conjectured  that  these 
balls  are  relics  of  this  expedition."  If  so,  these  afford  the 
only  clew  to  its  exact  line  of  march.)  Not  a  sign  or  trace 
of  civilized  habitations  greeted  the  eyes  of  these  bold 
warriors,  while  they  crossed  the  whole  of  what  is  now 
the  State  of  Illinois,  from  southwest  to  northeast,  and 
journeyed  on  into  what  is  now  Indiana  (though  they  knew 
the  whole  region  as  "the  Illinois"),  and  passed  the  port- 
age from  the  Kankakee  to  the  St.  Joseph,  at  or  near  the 
site  of  the  present  town  of  South  Bend.  The  Indian 
allies  of  the  English,  who  must  have  met  them  in  this 
part  of  the  journey,  were  readily  persuaded,  by  presents 
and  promises  of  a  share  in  the  plunder  of  the  fort,  to 
regard  the  situation  from  an  impartial  point  of  view. 
They  took  the  question  of  aiding  their  English  friends 
under  advisement,  and  kept  it  there  until  aid  was  need- 
less. The  short  march  along  the  St.  Joseph  River  was 
quickly  made,  as  the  hardy  band  rushed  onward  to  the 
fruition  of  their  hopes.  The  few  English  traders  and 
soldiers  within  the  stockade,  relying  upon  the  vigilance 
of  their  savage  spies,  were  totally  unprepared  for  the 
sudden  dash  which  made  them  prisoners,  and  transferred 
Fort  St.  Joseph  to  the  King  of  Spain.  He  was  the  sixth 
sovereign  who  had  borne  sway  there,  if  we  include  in  the 
list  La  Salle  and  Pontiac,  who  in  truth  were  kinglier  men 
than  any  of  the  others.     It  must  be  admitted  that  prec- 


MARCH  OF  SPANIARDS  ACROSS  ILLINOIS  301 

edents  were  in  favor  of  this  capture.  Fort  St.  Joseph 
had  been  so  uniformly  taken  and  plundered  whenever 
any  one  set  out  to  do  it,  that  capture  had  become  its 
normal  state,  and  seemingly  the  object  of  its  existence. 
An  officer  of  our  army  once  described  our  stone  forts  on 
the  sea  shore,  after  the  modem  improvements  in  marine 
artillery,  as  "places  to  get  out  of  as  soon  as  the  enemy 
opens  fire."  The  modest  little  post  of  St.  Joseph  antici- 
pated this  description,  which  was  singularly  applicable  to 
it,  by  nearly  a  century.  And,  before  leaving  this  topic, 
I  cannot  forbear  to  mention  that  in  the  Michigan  Pioneer 
Collections  it  is  stated  that  the  United  States  early 
in  this  century  determined  to  build  one  fort  on  Lake 
Michigan,  and  selected  a  site  on  the  St.  Joseph  River. 
But  the  Indians  in  the  vicinity,  whose  lands  had  not  then 
been  ceded  to  the  Government,  opposed  its  erection,  and 
the  commissioners  thereupon  went  to  Chicago  and  built 
Fort  Dearborn  in  1804.  And,  says  the  Michigan  Pioneer, 
*'we  conclude  that  had  the  fort  been  built  at  St.  Joseph 
there  would  have  been  no  Chicago. ' ' "  This  matter  of  a 
fort  seems  to  have  been  peculiarly  disastrous  to  the  St. 
Joseph  country.  When  it  had  one  it  constantly  invited 
capture,  and  caused  the  inhabitants  to  spend  more  or  less 
of  their  lives  as  prisoners  of  war ;  and,  when  it  did  not 
have  one,  it  thereby  lost  the  opportunity  of  becoming 
the  commercial  metropolis  of  the  Northwest.  I  know  of 
no  tract  of  land  in  all  this  section  which  has  been  so  sin- 
gularly unfortunate  as  the  St.  Joseph  region!  But  to 
return  to  our  Spaniards.  Don  Eugenio  Pourr6  took  pos- 
session, in  the  name  of  his  King,  of  St.  Joseph  and  its 
dependencies,  and  of  the  River  of  the  Illinois,  He  low- 
ered the  English  flag,  and  raised  in  its  place  the  standard 
of  His  Most  Catholic  Majesty,  which  was  there  displayed 


302     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

during  the  whole  time  of  his  stay.  His  men  plundered 
the  fort,  with  system  and  dispatch,  giving  the  greater  part 
of  the  provisions  and  goods  to  their  own  Indians  and  to 
those  who  lived  at  St.  Joseph,  "as  had  been  offered 
them,"  says  the  Spanish  account,  "in  case  they  did  not 
oppose  the  troops,"  and  destroying  the  remainder,  with 
the  magazine  and  storehouses.  They  remained  but  a  few 
days  for  rest  and  refreshment,  and  then  commenced  their 
homeward  route,  which  was  accomplished  without  inci- 
dent. Don  Eugenio  took  the  English  flag,  and  delivered 
it  on  his  arrival  at  St.  Louis  to  Don  Francesco  Cruvat,  in 
testimony  of  the  successful  execution  of  his  orders;  and 
with  this  ceremony  the  adventurous  march  concluded. 
We  hear  nothing  more  of  Don  Eugenio  Pourre,  but  it 
appears  from  the  American  State  Papers  relative  to  Pub- 
lic Lands,  that  his  second  in  command,  Don  Charles 
Tayon,  who  it  is  stated  "had  rendered  important  services 
to  the  Spanish  Government  from  the  year  1770,  and  was 
second  in  command  at  the  siege  of  St.  Joseph,  which  he 
contributed  to  take, ' '  afterwards  received  a  commission 
for  his  merits,  and  was  commandant  of  St.  Charles  of 
Missouri,  from  the  year  1792  to  the  year  1804,  and  that 
a  tract  of  land  was  granted  to  him  in  1 800  by  Don  Charles 
Dehault  Delassus,  Spanish  Governor  of  Upper  Louisiana,  "- 
And  now,  what  was  the  real  object  of  this,  remarkable 
undertaking?  It  was  not  a  mere  foray  for  the  sake  of 
booty,  since  all  that  was  captured  was  either  destroyed 
or  given  to  the  Indians.  Revenge  for  the  attack  upon 
St.  Louis  in  the  preceding  year  by  the  Mackinac  trap- 
pers and  savages,  would  hardly  account  for  an  expedition 
undertaken  at  such  an  expense,  and  at  such  a  time  of  the 
year,  and  which,  moreover,  was  not  sent  against  Macki- 
nac.   The  true  answer  must  be  found  in  the  wily  schemes 


MARCH  OF  SPANIARDS  ACROSS  ILLINOIS  303 

of  the  Spanish  Court,  and  if  we  change  the  scene  to  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  new  light  will  be  thrown 
upon  it.  Spain  had  been  since  June,  1779,  at  war  with 
Britain,  and  nominally  a  friend  of  the  colonies.  This 
was  not  by  reason  of  any  interest  in  our  cause,  for  the 
idea  of  American  independence  was  extremely  unwel- 
come to  her,  but  simply  for  her  own  purposes.  It  is  now 
quite  certain  that  France  agreed  to  sacrifice  to  Spain,  as 
a  condition  of  her  declaration  of  war,  the  interests  of  the 
new  republic  in  the  fisheries  and  in  the  West.  And  her 
successes  against  the  English  on  the  lower  Mississippi 
enabled  her  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  claim  which  ulti- 
mately grew  to  portentous  dimensions.  The  heart  of 
the  Spanish  King  was  set  upon  the  recovery  of  Gibraltar 
as  a  result  of  the  war,  and  all  of  his  conquests  he  pro- 
posed to  surrender  at  its  conclusion,  if  need  be,  to  obtain 
from  Great  Britain  the  key  to  the  Mediterranean.  Nat- 
urally his  ministers  desired  to  make  those  successes  as 
great  as  possible.  With  the  aid  of  France  they  expected 
either  to  accomplish  the  desired  exchange  with  England 
or  to  greatly  enlarge  the  Spanish  empire  in  America, 
regardless  of  the  claims  of  the  United  States.  At  the 
outset  they  seemed  to  content  themselves  with  the  region 
known  as  West  Florida.  John  Jay  was  our  representative 
at  Madrid,  and  on  his  first  arriving  there,  in  March,  1 780, 
the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  practically  conceded  that 
the  Mississippi  was  our  boundary,  north  of  the  thirty-first 
parallel,  or  what  is  now  the  southern  line  of  the  western 
portion  of  the  State  of  Mississippi.  But  a  different  tone 
soon  prevailed,  the  atmosphere  became  more  and  more 
unfriendly  to  the  United  States,  until  it  was  apparent 
that  nothing  less  than  the  entire  valley  of  the  Mississippi 
would  satisfy  the  ambition  of  the  Spaniards.     Their  con- 


304     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

quests  of  Baton  Rouge  and  Natchez  were  made  to  serve 
as  a  basis  for  a  title  to  the  whole  eastern  side  of  the  lower 
Mississippi,  as  far  as  the  Ohio.  They  needed  something 
more,  in  order  that  they  might  include  in  their  demands 
what  was  afterwards  known  as  the  Northwest  Territory, 
and  that  was  soon  supplied.  Jay,  writing  to  our  Secre- 
tary for  Foreign  Affairs,  Robert  R.  Livingston,  from 
Madrid  under  date  of  April  28,  1782,  says:  "The  Madrid 
Gazette  of  the  1 2th  of  March  contains  a  paragraph  of 
which  you  ought  not  to  be  ignorant.  I  shall  therefore 
copy  it  verbatim  and  add  a  translation  as  literal  as  I  can 
make  it. ' '  Then  follows  the  account  of  the  capture  of  St 
Joseph,  from  which  I  have  already  quoted.  And  Jay 
adds:  "When  you  consider  the  ostensible  object  of  this 
expedition,  the  distance  of  it,  the  formalities  with  which 
the  place,  the  country  and  river  were  taken  possession  of 
in  the  name  of  His  Catholic  Majesty,  I  am  persuaded  it 
will  not  be  necessary  for  me  to  swell  this  letter  with 
remarks  that  would  occur  to  a  reader  of  far  less  penetra- 
tion than  yourself. "  " 

Let  me  here  call  attention,  for  a  moment,  to  the  length 
of  time  required  to  transmit  the  news  of  this  matter  to 
Spain.  We  may  suppose  that  Don  Eugenio  Pourr6  pre- 
sented himself  at  the  government  house  in  St.  Louis  on 
his  return  from  St.  Joseph,  and  made  his  formal  report 
early  in  March,  1781.  The  news  was  then  forwarded  by 
bateaux,  which  slowly  drifted  down  the  Mississippi,  and 
in  the  course  of  time  brought  the  dispatches  to  New 
Orleans.  Thence  by  the  next  vessel  that  sailed,  these 
were  forwarded  to  the  Commandant- General  of  the  Army 
of  Operations  at  the  Havana,  who  was  also  the  Governor 
of  Louisiana,  and  by  him  they  were  doubtless  sent  to 
Spain  in  the    next  man-of-war  that  crossed  the  ocean. 


MARCH  OF  SPANIARDS  ACROSS  ILLINOIS  305 

From  her  port,  by  post  horses,  the  papers  went  to  the 
capital,  and  finally  the  account  was  published  in  the 
Madrid  Gazette  of  March  12,  1782,  a  full  year  after  the 
return  of  the  expedition. 

The  information  reached  France  about  the  same  time, 
and  wise  old  Benjamin  Franklin,  our  minister  to  Ver- 
sailles, was  quick  to  see  its  meaning.  He  writes  to  Liv- 
ingston from  Passy  under  date  of  April  12,  1782:  "I  see 
by  the  newspapers  that  the  Spaniards,  having  taken  a 
little  post  called  St.  Joseph,  pretend  to  have  made  a 
conquest  of  the  Illinois  country.  In  what  light  does  this 
proceeding  appear  to  Congress?  While  they  (the  Span- 
iards) decline  our  proffered  friendship,  are  they  to  be 
sufltered  to  encroach  on  our  bounds,  and  shut  us  up 
within  the  Appalachian  Mountains?  I  begin  to  fear  they 
have  some  such  project."  "  The  treatment  of  the  Span- 
iards became  exceedingly  irksome  to  Jay,  and  the  objects 
they  aimed  at  were  manifest  to  him.  About  this  time  he 
writes  to  Franklin :  "  I  am  pleased  with  your  idea  of  pay- 
ing whatever  we  owe  to  Spain.  Their  pride,  perhaps, 
might  forbid  them  to  receive  the  money.  But  our  pride 
has  been  so  hurt  by  the  littleness  of  their  conduct,  that 
I  would  in  that  case  be  for  leaving  it  at  the  gate  of  the 
palace,  and  quit  the  country.  At  present  such  a  step 
would  not  be  expedient,  though  the  time  will  come  when 
prudence,  instead  of  restraining,  will  urge  us  to  hold  no 
other  language  or  conduct  to  this  court  than  that  of  a 
just,  a  free,  and  a  brave  people,  who  have  nothing  to  fear 
from  nor  to  request  of  them."  And  to  Livingston  he 
writes:  "France  is  ready  for  a  peace,  but  not  Spain.  The 
King's  eyes  are  fixed  on  Gibraltar.  .  .  .  Spain  ought  not 
to  expect  such  a  price  as  the  Mississippi  for  acknowledg- 
ing our  independence."  "     Jay  could  accomplish  nothing 


3o6     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

at  Madrid,  and  was  soon  transferred  to  Paris,  there  to 
negotiate  with  Franklin  and  Adams  the  treaty  of  peace 
with  Great  Britain,  Further  negotiation  with  Spain  was 
also  transferred  to  Paris,  and  was  conducted  there 
through  Count  d'Aranda,  the  Spanish  ambassador  at  the 
Court  of  France.  At  their  first  conference  the  count 
asked  Mr.  Jay  what  our  western  boundaries  were,  and 
was  informed  that  the  boundary  between  us  and  the  Span- 
ish dominions  was  a  line  drawn  from  the  head  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi down  through  the  middle  thereof  to  the 
thirty-first  degree  of  north  latitude.  The  count  replied 
that  the  western  country  had  never  belonged  to,  or  been 
claimed  as  belonging  to,  the  colonies.  That  it  had  once 
belonged  to  France,  had  been  ceded  by  her  to  Britain,  of 
whose  dominions  it  remained  a  distinct  part,  until  by  the 
conquest  of  West  Florida  and  certain  posts  of  the  Missis- 
sippi and  Illinois  (alluding  here  to  the  capture  of  St. 
Joseph)  it  became  vested  in  Spain. ^"^  He  kindly  added 
that  he  did  not  mean  to  dispute  about  a  few  acres  or 
miles,  but  wished  to  run  the  boundary  line  in  a  manner 
that  would  be  convenient  to  the  United  States,  though  he 
never  could  admit  the  extent  we  claimed.  Mr.  Jay 
desired  him  to  mark  on  the  map  the  line  he  proposed, 
and  to  place  it  as  far  to  the  west  as  his  instructions  would 
possibly  admit  of,  which  he  promised  to  do.  A  few  days 
afterward  the  count  sent  his  map  with  his  proposed  line 
marked  in  red  ink.  He  ran  it  from  a  lake  near  the  con- 
fines of  Georgia,  but  east  of  the  Flint  River,  to  the  con- 
fluence of  the  Kanawha  with  the  Ohio,  thence  round  the 
western  shores  of  Lakes  Erie  and  Huron,  and  thence 
round  Lake  Michigan  to  Lake  Superior.  That  is,  Spain 
modestly  claimed  the  territory  now  comprising  the  States 
of  Mississippi  and  Alabama,   a  large  part   of  Georgia, 


MARCH  OF  SPANIARDS  ACROSS  ILLINOIS  307 

nearly  the  Ayhole  of  Tennessee,  all  of  Kentucky,  por- 
tions of  North  Carolina  and  Virginia,  a  large  part  of 
Ohio,  and  all  of  Michigan,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Wis- 
consin ;  but  did  not  mean  to  dispute  about  a  few  acres 
or  miles !  And  the  courtly  nobleman  further  assured  the 
ambassador  of  the  young  republic  that  he  had  nothing 
more  at  heart  than  to  fix  such  a  boundary  as  might  be 
satisfactory  to  both  parties.  Mr.  Jay  and  Dr.  Franklin 
at  once  saw  the  French  Minister  of  Foreigfn  Affairs, 
Comte  de  Vergennes,  and  pointed  out  the  extravagance 
of  this  line,  Franklin  insisting  as  strenuously  as  Jay  that 
the  Mississippi  was  the  western  boundary,  and  they 
ought  not  by  any  means  to  part  with  the  right  to  the  free 
navigation  of  it.  And  Franklin,  writing  to  Livingston 
on  August  12,  1782,  two  days  after  this  interview,  says: 
"Mr.  Jay  will  acquaint  you  with  what  passed  between 
him  and  the  Spanish  Ambassador  respecting  the  pro- 
posed treaty  with  Spain.  I  will  only  mention  that  my 
conjecture  of  that  Court's  design  to  coop  us  up  within  the 
Allegany  mountains  is  now  manifested.  I  hope  Con- 
gress will  insist  on  the  Mississippi  as  the  boundary,  and 
the  free  navigation  of  the  river,  from  which  they  would 
entirely  exclude  us. ' ' 

Again  the  Count  d'Aranda  was  very  urgent  that  Mr. 
Jay  should  mark  on  his  map  some  line  or  other  to  the 
eastward  of  the  Mississippi  to  which  they  could  agree ; 
but  Jay  told  him  frankly  that  he  was  bound  by  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  had  no  authority  to  cede  any  territories  east 
of  it  to  His  Catholic  Majesty.  They  had  thus,  as  Mr.  Jay 
says,  "clearly  discovered  the  views  of  Spain,  and  that 
they  were  utterly  inadmissible. "  ^'  It  was  not  long  before 
he  was  satisfied  that  France  and  Spain  were  acting 
together,  and  wished  to  induce  the  American  ministers 


.308     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

to  agree  on  western  limits  as  a  preliminary  to  negotiation 
with  Great  Britain,  and  to  leave  the  country  west  of  such 
limits  to  be  adjusted  between  the  French  and  Spanish 
ambassadors  and  the  Court  of  London.  The  conduct  of 
the  representatives  of  the  two  countries  convinced  him 
that  France  and  Spain  intended  either  to  secure  the 
western  country  to  themselves  or  yield  it  to  Great  Britain 
for  an  equivalent  elsewhere.  He  divined  the  essence  of 
the  secret  arrangement  between  France  and  Spain  which 
secured  the  latter's  entry  into  the  war,  which  was,  as 
Bancroft  says,  "that  Spain  was  to  be  left  free  to  exact 
from  the  United  States  the  renunciation  of  every  part  of 
the  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  lakes,  of  the  nav- 
igation of  the  Mississippi,  and  all  the  land  between  that 
river  and  the  AUeghenies. ' '  It  was  a  trying  moment  for 
our  representatives  when  it  became  clear  to  them  that  our 
allies  were  plotting  to  despoil  us ;  but  they  were  equal  to 
the  occasion ;  and  by  a  master  stroke,  disregarding  their 
instructions,  which  directed  them  to  consult  the  French 
Court  throughout, they  entered  into  the  secret  negotiation 
with  Great  Britain  which  ended  in  the  Treaty  of  Ver- 
sailles in  1783.  Well  was  it  for  this  fair  land  of  ours  that 
its  destinies  were  in  the  hands  of  Jay  and  Franklin  and 
Adams.  Counselors  less  wise  or  less  firm  than  they 
might  have  yielded  to  the  claims  of  Spain,  certainly  when 
supported  by  France ;  and  the  whole  Northwestern  Ter- 
ritory might  have  become  Spanish  soil,  and  the  Ohio  the 
western  boundary  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
Spain  in  her  treaty  with  England  did  not  obtain  the  cov- 
eted prize  of  Gibraltar,  which  the  English  ministers  were 
inclined  to  yield  to  her,  but  the  stubbornness  of  old 
George  III  prevented.  He  had  lost  the  colonies  and  lost 
the  Floridas,  lost  his  troops  and  lost  his  ships,  but  he 


MARCH  OF  SPANIARDS  ACROSS  ILLINOIS  309 

drew  the  line  at  the  Rock  of  Gibraltar,  and  that  he  would 
not  lose.  The  Spaniards  were  forced  to  content  them- 
selves with  the  Floridas  and  Minorca,  and  they  restored 
the  Bahamas,  which  they  had  taken  during  the  war.  The 
Spanish  minister,  in  1784,  notified  our  government 
that  Spain  did  not  recognize  the  right  of  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States  to  settle  boundaries  of  the  country 
she  had  conquered  before  the  treaty  of  peace.  The 
recognition  by  Great  Britain  of  the  boundaries  insisted 
upon  by  the  American  commissioners  practically  settled 
that  question,  and  France  acquiesced  at  once.  The  Span- 
ish King,  however,  could  not  forgive  his  minister.  Count 
d'Aranda,  who,  having  full  powers  to  negotiate, 
renounced  in  the  name  of  his  Sovereign  his  demands  for 
Gibraltar  and  accepted  the  two  Floridas,  and  the  count 
was  disgraced.  But  Spain  did  not  abandon  her  alleged 
title  to  the  western  country,  and  she  continued  to  claim 
both  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  and  to  plot  for  the  secession 
of  some  of  the  western  States,  until  the  treaty  of  1795 
put  an  end  to  her  pretensions  in  that  quarter.  Spanish 
grants  of  land  within  what  is  now  the  State  of  Illinois, 
four  in  one  county  alone,  show  how  determinedly  the 
Court  of  Madrid  clung  to  this  region,  and  attempted  to 
exercise  sovereignty  over  it  to  the  last.^ 

The  policy  and  aims  of  Spain  during  the  Revolution, 
and  the  use  which  was  made  of  the  expedition  to  St.  Jo- 
seph in  support  of  the  same,  make  it  reasonably  certain 
that  the  march  of  the  Spaniards  across  Illinois  was 
inspired  and  directed  from  Madrid,  and  for  a  weighty 
purpose.  No  official  accounts  exist  in  print,  but  it  is 
believed  that  in  the  archives  of  the  Government  of  Spain 
evidence  upon  the  point  is  still  preserved,  which  may  one 
day  be  g^ven  to  the  world.     The  Spanish  records  kept  at 


3IO     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

St.  Louis,  which  probably  contained  much  relating  to  the 
subject,  were  all  removed  in  1804,  when  the  cession  from 
Spain  to  France,  and  from  France  to  the  United  States, 
took  place.  They  were  shipped  to  New  Orleans,  and  to 
Cuba,  and  were  supposed  for  a  time  to  have  been  lost  in 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  In  later  years  a  portion  of  them 
were  discovered  in  a  forlorn  condition  in  an  old  ware- 
house in  Havana,  and  it  is  said  that  these  have  since  been 
sent  to  Spain.  The  information  relating  to  this  march 
is  but  meager,  and  must  be  gleaned  from  short  and  scat- 
tered notices  in  many  works.  It  is  remarkable  that  it  is 
not  even  spoken  of  in  a  single  history  of  Michigan,  gen- 
eral or  local,  although  the  Fort  of  St.  Joseph  was  situated 
within  the  limits  of  that  State.  It  is  alluded  to  in  one 
history  of  Indiana,"  and  in  one  history  of  Illinois,** 
although  the  latter  gives  the  wrong  date,  and  both  dismiss 
it  with  brief  mention,  as  of  a  matter  unimportant. 

And  yet  it  has  seemed  not  altogether  a  waste  of  time  to 
recall  it  from  the  forgotten  past,  and  bring  it  into  view 
once  more.  If  only  for  the  romance  and  picturesqueness 
of  that  daring  winter  journey,  it  might  have  a  claim  to 
have  its  story  told.  Then,  too,  it  gives  one  of  the  early 
touches  of  life  to  the  broad  plains  of  the  West.  These 
had  lain  there  for  countless  years,  which  concern  us  not 
at  all,  since  no  record  of  man  in  connection  with  them  in 
these  ages  exists.  But  as  soon  as  the  forms  of  one  of 
these  pioneer  bands  appear  upon  their  surface  the  prairies 
are  humanized,  and  our  interest  in  them  begins. 
As  a  part  of  the  early  history  of  what  is  now  a  great 
State,  the  passing  and  repassing  over  its  borders  of  these 
warriors  bearing  the  flag  of  Spain  deserves  to  be  chron- 
icled. And  as  an  illustration  of  that  crafty  diplomacy 
which  sought  to  control  both   the  Old  World  and  the 


MARCH  OF  SPANIARDS  ACROSS  ILLINOIS  311 

New,  it  may  repay  study.  How  little  did  those  light- 
hearted  soldiers  and  their  red  allies  know  that  they  were 
but  the  pawns  in  the  great  game  whereof  the  players 
were  at  Paris  and  Madrid!  But  above  all,  when  we  con- 
sider how  much  was  staked  upon  this  expedition,  and  by 
what  a  narrow  chance  the  policy  of  which  it  was  the  con- 
summation failed  of  changing  perhaps  the  whole  future 
of  the  Northwest,  there  may  appear  to  be  reason  suflfi- 
cient  for  the  permanent  remembrance  of  The  March  of 
the  Spaniards  across  Illinois. 


NOTES 


>  The  Far  West,  vol.  I,  p.  78. 

'^  Ellicott's  Journal,  p  31. 

3  The  Far  West,  vol.  I,  p.  123. 

*0.  W.  Collet  in  Magazine  of  Western  History,  vol.  II,  p.  321. 

^Madrid  Gazette,  March  12,  1782. 

*  Butler's  Kentucky,  p.  75. 

'Calendar  Virginia  State  Papers,  vol.  I,  p.  465. 

*  Madrid  Gazette,  March  12,  1782. 

®  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  vol.  I,  p.  274. 

'"Ibid.,  vol.  I,  p.  274,  n. 

"  Illinois  in  the  Revolution,  ante. 

i^Parkman's  Pontiac,  vol.  I,  pp.  59,  273;  Reynold's  Illinois,  p.  68. 

"Charlevoix  Journal,  vol.  II,  pp.  94,  184. 

"H.  W.  Beckwith,  Danville,  Illinois. 

'^Michigan  Pioneers'  Collection,  vol.  I,  p.  122. 

'*  American  State  Papers,  Public  Lands,  vol.  V,  pp.  779,  780. 

"  Spark's  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  vol.  VIII,  p.  76. 

18  Works  of  Franklin  (Spark's),  vol.  IX,  p.  128. 

'9  Spark's  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  vol.  VIII,  p  98. 
-  20  Ibid.,  p.  150. 

2»  Pitkin's  History  of  the  U.  S.,  vol.  II,  chap.  15. 

»2 Letters  of  W.  H.  Green,  Cairo,  111.,  Nov.  12,  Dec.  12,  1885. 

*3  Dillon's  Indiana,   ed.  1843,  p.  190. 

2*  Reynold's  Illinois,  p.  loi. 

Note. — For  other  mention  of  the  Spanish  expedition,  see  Annals 
of  the  West,  1846,  Cincinnati  ed. 

Pirtle's  Introduction  to  Clark's  Campaigfn  in  the  Ills.,  pp.  3,  4 

Secret  Journals  of  Congress,  vol.  II. 


312 


THE   CHICAGO    MASSACRE 

Early  in  August,  in  the  year  of  grace  1812,  there  had 
come  through  the  forest  and  across  the  prairie  to  the 
lonely  Fort  Dearborn  an  Indian  runner,  like  a  clansman 
with  the  fiery  cross,  bearing  the  news  of  battle  and 
disaster.  War  with  Great  Britain  had  been  declared  in 
June,  Mackinac  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy  in 
July,  and  with  these  alarming  tidings  the  red  messenger 
brought  an  order  from  the  commanding  general  at  Detroit 
contemplating  the  abandonment  of  this  frontier  post. 
Concerning  the  terms  of  his  order  authorities  have 
differed.  Captain  Heald,  who  received  it,  speaks  of  it  as 
a  peremptory  command  to  evacuate  the  fort.  Others 
with  good  means  of  knowledge  say  that  the  dispatch 
directed  him  to  vacate  the  fort  if  practicable.  But  Gen- 
eral Hull,  who  sent  the  order,  settles  this  question  in  a 
report  to  the  War  Department,  which  has  recently  come 
to  light.     Writing  under  date  of  July  29,  181 2,  he  says: 

' '  I  shall  immediately  send  an  express  to  Fort  Dearborn 
with  orders  to  evacuate  that  post  and  retreat  to  this  place 
(Detroit)  or  Fort  Wayne,  provided  it  can  be  effected  with 
a  greater  prospect  of  safety  than  to  remain.  Captain 
Heald  is  a  judicious  officer,  and  I  shall  confide  much  to 
his  discretion. ' ' 

The  decision  whether  to  go  or  stay  rested  therefore 
with  Captain  Nathan  Heald,  and  truly  the  responsibility 
was  a  heavy  one.  Signs  of  Indian  hostility  had  not  been 
wanting.     But  the  evening  before  the  day  of  the  evacua- 

313 


314     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

tion,  the  15th  of  August,  Black  Partridge,  a  chief  of  the 
Pottawattamie  tribe,  long  a  friend  of  the  whites,  had 
entered  the  quarters  of  the  commanding  officer  and 
handed  to  him  the  medal  which  the  warrior  wore  in  token 
of  services  to  the  American  cause  in  the  Indian  cam- 
paigns of  "Mad"  Anthony  Wayne.  With  dignity  and 
with  sadness  the  native  orator  said : 

' '  Father,  I  come  to  deliver  up  to  you  the  medal  I  wear. 
It  was  given  me  by  the  Americans,  and  I  have  long  worn 
it  in  token  of  our  mutual  friendship.  But  our  young  men 
are  resolved  to  imbrue  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  the 
whites.  I  cannot  restrain  them,  and  I  will  not  wear  a 
token  of  peace  while  I  am  compelled  to  act  as  an  enemy. ' ' 

On  that  dreary  day  one  gleam  of  light  fell  across  the 
path  of  the  perplexed  commander.  Captain  William  Wells 
arrived  from  Fort  Wayne  with  a  small  party  of  friendly 
Miami  Indians  to  share  the  fortunes  of  the  imperiled 
garrison.  This  gallant  man,  destined  to  be  the  chief  hero 
and  victim  of  the  Chicago  massacre,  had  had  a  most 
remarkable  career.  Of  a  good  Kentucky  family,  he  was 
stolen  when  a  boy  of  twelve  by  the  Miami  Indians  and 
adopted  by  their  great  chief,  Me-chee-kau-nah-qua,  or 
Little  Turtle,  whose  daughter  became  his  wife.  He 
fought  on  the  side  of  the  red  men  in  their  defeats  of  Gen- 
eral Harmar  in  1790,  and  General  St.  Clair  in  1791.  Dis- 
covered by  his  Kentucky  kindred  when  he  had  reached 
years  of  manhood,  he  was  persuaded  to  ally  himself  with 
his  own  race,  and  took  formal  leave  of  his  Indian  com- 
rades, avowing  henceforth  his  enmity  to  them.  Joining 
Wayne's  army,  he  was  made  captain  of  a  company  of 
scouts,  and  was  a  most  faithful  and  valuable  officer. 
When  peace  came  with  the  Treaty  of  Greenville  in  1795, 
he  devoted  himself  to  obtaining  an  education,  and  sue- 


THE  CHICAGO  MASSACRE  315 

ceeded  so  well  that  he  was  appointed  Indian  agent  and 
served  in  that  capacity  at  Chicago  as  early  as  1803,  and 
later  at  Fort  Wayne,  where  he  was  also  the  government 
interpreter  and  a  Justice  of  the  Peace.  Here  he  heard 
of  the  probable  evacuation  of  the  post  at  Chicago,  and 
knowing  the  temper  of  the  Indians,  he  gathered  such 
force  as  he  could  and  made  a  rapid  march  across  the 
country  to  save,  or  die  with,  his  friends  at  Fort  Dearborn, 
among  whom  the  wife  of  Captain  Heald  was  his  own 
favorite  niece,  whose  gentle  influence  had  been  most 
potent  in  winning  him  back  from  barbarism  years  before. 
It  seemed  almost  as  if  he  had  resolved  to  atone  for  the 
period  in  which  he  had  ignorantly  antagonized  his  own 
people  by  a  supreme  effort  in  their  behalf  against  the 
race  which  had  so  nearly  made  him  a  savage. 

He  came  too  late  to  effect  any  change  in  Captain 
Heald 's  plans.  The  abandonment  was  resolved  upon,  the 
stores  and  ammunition  were  in  part  destroyed  and  in  part 
divided  among  the  Indians,  who  were  soon  to  make  so 
base  a  return  for  these  gifts.  At  nine  o'clock  on  that 
fatal  summer  morning  the  march  began  from  the  little 
fort,  which  stood  where  Michigan  Avenue  and  River  Street 
now  join,  on  a  slight  eminence  around  which  the  river 
wound  to  find  its  way  to  the  lake,  near  the  present  ter- 
minus of  Madison  Street.  The  garrison  bade  farewell  to 
the  rude  stockade  and  the  log  barracks  and  magazine  and 
two  corner  blockhouses  which  composed  the  first  Fort 
Dearborn,  When  this  only  place  of  safety  was  left 
behind,  the  straggling  line  stretched  out  along  the  shore 
of  the  lake,  Captain  Wells  and  a  part  of  his  Miamis  in 
the  van,  half  a  company  of  regulars  and  a  dozen  militia- 
men, and  the  wagons  with  the  women  and  children  fol- 
lowing, and  the  remainder  of  the  Miamis  bringing  up  the 


3i6     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

rear.  The  escort  of  Pottawattamies,  which  that  treach- 
erous tribe  had  glibly  promised  to  Captain  Heald,  kept 
abreast  of  the  troops  until  they  reached  the  sand  hills 
intervening  between  the  prairie  and  the  lake,  and  here 
the  Indians  disappeared  behind  the  ridge.  The  whites 
kept  on  near  the  water  to  a  point  a  mile  and  a  half  from 
the  fort,  and  about  where  Fourteenth  Street  now  ends, 
when  Wells  in  the  advance  was  seen  to  turn  and  ride 
back,  swinging  his  hat  around  his  head  in  a  circle,  which 
meant  in  the  sign  language  of  the  frontier:  "We  are  sur- 
rounded by  Indians." 

As  soon  as  he  came  within  hearing  he  shouted :  ' '  We 
are  surrounded ;  march  up  on  the  sand  ridges. ' '  And  all 
at  once,  in  the  graphic  languge  of  Mrs.  Heald,  they  saw 
"the  Indians*  heads  sticking  up  and  down  again,  here  and 
there,  like  turtles  out  of  the  water. ' ' 

Instantly  a  volley  was  showered  down  from  the  sand 
hills,  the  troops  were  brought  into  line,  and  charged  up 
the  bank,  one  man,  a  veteran  of  seventy  years,  falling  as 
they  ascended.  Wells  shouted  to  Heald:  "Charge  them!" 
and  then  led  on  and  broke  the  line  of  the  Indians,  who 
scattered  right  and  left.  Another  charge  was  made,  in 
which  Wells  did  deadly  execution  upon  the  perfidious 
barbarians,  loading  and  firing  two  pistols  and  a  gun  in 
rapid  succession.  But  the  Pottawattamies,  beaten  in 
front,  closed  in  on  the  flanks.  The  cowardly  Miamis 
rendered  no  assistance,  and  in  fifteen  minutes'  time  the 
savages  had  possession  of  the  baggage  train  and  were 
slaying  the  women  and  children.  Heald  and  a  remnant 
of  his  command  were  isolated  on  a  mound  in  the  prairie. 
He  had  lost  all  his  ofi&cers  and  half  his  men,  was  himself 
sorely  wounded,  and  there  was  no  choice  but  to  surren- 
der.    Such,  in  merest  outline  was  the  battle,  and  one  of 


THE  CHICAGO  MASSACRE  317 

its  saddest  incidents  was  the  death  of  Captain  Wells.  As 
he  rode  back  from  the  fray,  desperately  wounded,  he  met 
his  niece  and  bade  her  farewell,  saying:  "Tell  my  wife, 
if  you  live  to  see  her — but  I  think  it  doubtful  if  a  single 
one  escapes — tell  her  I  died  at  my  post,  doing  the  best  I 
could.  There  are  seven  red  devils  over  there  that  I  have 
killed. ' '  As  he  spoke  his  horse  fell,  pinning  him  to  the 
ground.  A  group  of  Indians  approached ;  he  took  delib- 
erate aim  and  fired,  killing  one  of  them.  As  the  others 
drew  near,  with  a  last  effort  he  proudly  lifted  his  head, 
saying:  "Shoot  away,"  and  the  fatal  shot  was  fired. 

The  young  wife  of  Lieutenant  Helm,  second  in  com- 
mand of  the  fort,  was  attacked  by  an  Indian  lad,  who 
struck  her  on  the  shoulder  with  a  tomahawk.  To  pre- 
vent him  from  using  his  weapons  she  seized  him  around 
the  neck  and  strove  to  get  possession  of  the  scalping- 
knife  which  hung  in  a  scabbard  over  his  breast.  In  the 
midst  of  the  struggle  she  was  dragged  from  the  grasp  of 
her  assailant  by  an  older  Indian.  He  bore  her  to  the  lake 
and  plunged  her  into  the  waves;  but  she  quickly  per- 
ceived that  his  object  was  not  to  drown  her,  as  he  held 
her  head  above  the  water.  Gazing  intently  at  him  she 
soon  recognized,  in  spite  of  the  paint  with  which  he  was 
disgTiised,  the  whilom  friend  of  the  whites,  Black  Par- 
tridge, who  saved  her  from  further  harm  and  restored  her 
to  her  friends.  For  this  good  deed,  and  others  too,  this 
noble  chief  should  be  held  in  kindly  remembrance. 

It  is  difficult  to  realize  that  such  scenes  could  have 
taken  place  in  the  Chicago  of  to-day;  but  history  and 
tradition  alike  bear  witness  to  that  bloody  battlefield. 
From  the  place  on  the  lake  shore  where  Wells'  signal 
halted  the  column  over  the  parallel  sand  ridges  stretching 
southwesterly  along  the  prairie  and  through  the  bushy 


3i8     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

ravines  between,  the  running  fight  continued  probably 
as  far  as  the  present  intersection  of  Twenty-first  Street 
and  Indiana  Avenue,  where  one  of  our  soldiers  was  slain 
and  scalped,  and  still  lies  buried.  Just  over  on  what  is 
now  Michigan  Avenue  must  have  been  the  little  eminence 
on  the  prairie  on  which  Heald  made  his  last  rally,  and  at 
the  eastern  end  of  Eighteenth  Street  the  skulking  sav- 
ages, who  had  given  way  at  the  advance  of  our  men, 
gathered  in  their  rear  around  the  few  wagons  which  had 
vainly  sought  to  keep  under  the  cover  of  our  line. 

If  the  gaunt  old  cottonwood  on  tlie  latter  spot,  long 
known  as  the  "Massacre  Tree,"  could  speak,  what  a  tale 
of  horror  it  would  tell.  For  tradition,  strong  as  Holy 
Writ,  affirms  that  between  this  tree  and  its  neighbor  the 
roots  of  which  still  remain  beneath  the  pavement,  the 
baggage  wagon,  containing  twelve  children  of  the  white 
families  of  the  fort,  halted  and  one  young  savage  climb- 
ing into  it  tomahawked  the  entire  group.  A  little  while 
and  this  sole  witness  of  that  deed  of  woe  must  pass  away. 
But  the  duty  of  preserving  the  name  and  locality  of  the 
Chicago  massacre,  which  has  been  its  charge  for  so  many 
years,  is  now  transferred  to  a  stately  monument,  which 
will  faithfully  perform  it  long  after  the  fall  of  the  "Mas- 
sacre Tree," 

Captain  Heald's  whole  party,  not  including  the  Miami 
detachment,  when  they  marched  out  of  Fort  Dearborn, 
comprised  fifty-four  regulars,  twelve  militiamen,  nine 
women  and  eighteen  children — ninety-three  white  persons 
in  all.  Of  these,  twenty-six  regulars  and  the  twelve  militia- 
men were  slain  in  action,  two  women  and  twelve  children 
were  murdered  on  the  field,  and  five  regfulars  were  bar- 
barously put  to  death,  after  the  surrender.  There 
remained  then  but  thirty-six  of  the  whole  party  of  ninety - 


V 


THE  CHICAGO  MASSACRE  319 

three,  and  of  the  sixty-six  fighting  men  who  met  their  red 
foemen  here  that  day  only  twenty-three  survived.  These, 
with  seven  women  and  six  children,  were  prisoners  in 
the  hands  of  the  savages.  We  know  of  the  romantic 
escape,  by  the  aid  of  friendly  Indians,  of  Captain  and 
Mrs.  Heald  and  Lieutenant  and  Mrs.  Helm ;  and  three  of 
the  soldiers,  one  of  whom  was  Orderly  Sergeant  William 
Griffith,  in  less  than  two  months  after  the  massacre,  found 
their  way  to  Michigan,  bringing  the  sad  news  from  Fort 
Dearborn.  Hull's  surrender  had  placed  Detroit  in  the 
hands  of  the  enemy ;  but  the  Territorial  Chief  Justice, 
Woodward,  the  highest  United  States  authority  there,  in 
a  ringing  letter  to  the  British  commandant.  Colonel  Proc- 
tor, under  date  of  October  8,  18 12,  demanded  in  the  name 
of  humanity  that  instant  means  should  be  taken  for  the 
preservation  of  these  unhappy  captives  by  sending  special 
messengers  among  the  Indians  to.  collect  the  prisoners 
and  bring  them  to  the  nearest  army  post,  and  that  orders 
to  cooperate  should  be  issued  to  the  British  officers  on 
the  lakes.  Colonel  Proctor  one  month  before  had  been 
informed  by  his  own  people  of  the  bloody  work  at  Chi- 
cago, and  had  reported  the  same  to  his  superior  officer, 
Major-General  Brock,  but  had  contented  himself  with 
remarking  that  he  had  no  knowledge  of  any  attack  hav- 
ing been  intended  by  the  Indians  on  Chicago,  nor  could 
they  indeed  be  said  to  be  within  the  influence  of  the 
British. 

Now,  spurred  to  action  by  Judge  Woodward's  clear  and 
forcible  presentation  of  the  case,  Proctor  promised  to  use 
the  most  effective  means  in  his  power  for  the  speedy 
release  from  slavery  of  these  unfortunate  individuals. 
He  committed  the  matter  to  Robert  Dickson,  British 
agent  to  the  Indians  of  the  western  nations,  who  pro- 


320     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

ceeded  about  it  leisurely  enough.  March  i6,  1813,  he 
wrote  from  St.  Joseph  Lake,  Michigan,  that  there 
remained  of  the  ill-fated  garrison  of  Chicago,  captives 
among  the  Indians,  seventeen  soldiers,  four  women  and 
some  children,  and  that  he  had  taken  the  necessary  steps 
for  their  redemption,  and  had  the  fullest  confidence  that 
he  should  succeed  in  getting  the  whole.  Six  days  later 
he  came  to  Chicago  and  inspected  the  ruined  fort,  where, 
as  he  says,  there  remained  only  two  pieces  of  brass  ord- 
nance, three-pounders  —  one  in  the  river,  with  wheels, 
and  the  other  dismounted — a  powder  magazine,  well  pre- 
served, and  a  few  houses  on  the  outside  of  the  fort,  in 
good  condition.  This  desolation  apparently  was  not 
relieved  by  the  presence  of  a  single  inhabitant.  Such 
was  the  appearance  of  Chicago  in  the  spring  following 
the  massacre.  Of  these  seventeen  soldiers,  the  nine  who 
survived  their  long  imprisonment  were  ransomed  by  a 
French  trader  and  sent  to  Quebec,  and  ultimately  reached 
Plattsburg,  New  York,  in  the  summer  of  18 14.  Of  the 
women  two  were  rescued  from  slavery,  one  by  the  kind- 
ness of  Black  Partridge ;  and  the  other  doubtless  perished 
in  captivity.  Of  the  children,  we  hear  again  of  only  one. 
In  a  letter  written  to  Major-General  Proctor  by  Captain 
Bullock,  the  British  commander  at  Mackinac,  September 
35,  1 81 3,  he  says:  '* There  is  also  here  a  boy  (Peter  Bell), 
five  or  six  years  of  age,  whose  father  and  mother  were 
killed  at  Chicago.  The  boy  Was  purchased  from  the 
Indians  by  a  trader  and  brought  here  last  July  by  direc- 
tion of  Mr.  Dickson."  Of  the  six  little  people  who  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Indians  this  one  small  waif  alone 
seems  to  have  floated  to  the  shore  of  freedom. 

The  Pottawattamies,  after  the  battle  and  the  burning 
of  the  fort,  divided  their  booty  and  prisoners  and  scat- 


THE  CHICAGO  MASSACRE  321 

tered,  some  to  their  villages,  some  to  join  their  brethren 
in  the  siege  of  Fort  Wayne.  Here  they  were  foiled  by 
the  timely  arrival  of  William  Henry  Harrison,  then  Gov- 
ernor of  the  Indiana  Territory,  with  a  force  of  Kentucky 
and  Ohio  troops,  and  condign  punishment  was  inflicted 
upon  a  part  at  least  of  the  Chicago  murderers.  A  detach- 
ment which  General  Harrison  assigned  to  this  work  was 
commanded  by  Colonel  Samuel  Wells,  who  must  have 
remembered  his  brother's  death  when  he  destroyed  the 
village  of  Five  Medals,  a  leading  Pottawattamie  chief. 
To  one  of  the  ruthless  demons  who  slew  women  and  chil- 
dren under  the  branches  of  the  cottonwood  tree,  such  an 
appropriate  vengeance  came  that  it  seems  fitting  to  tell 
the  story  here.  He  was  older  than  most  of  the  band,  a 
participant  in  many  battles,  and  a  deadly  enemy  of  the 
whites.  His  scanty  hair  was  drawn  tightly  upward  and 
tied  with  a  string,  making  a  tuft  on  top  of  his  head,  and 
from  this  peculiarity  he  was  known  as  Chief  Shavehead. 
Years  after  the  Chicago  massacre  he  was  a  hunter  in  west- 
ern Michigan,  and  when  in  liquor  was  fond  of  boasting  of 
his  achievements  on  the  warpath.  On  one  of  these  occa- 
sions in  the  streets  of  a  little  village  he  told  the  fearful 
tale  of  his  doings  on  this  field  with  all  its  horrors ;  but 
among  his  hearers  there  chanced  to  be  a  soldier  of  the 
garrison  of  Fort  Dearborn,  one  of  the  few  survivors  of 
that  fatal  day.  As  he  listened  he  saw  that  frightful  scene 
again,  and  was  maddened  by  its  recall.  At  sundown  the 
old  brave  left  the  settlement,  and  silently  on  his  trail  the 
soldier  came,  "with  his  gun,"  says  the  account,  "resting 
in  the  hollow  of  his  left  arm  and  the  right  hand  clasped 
around  the  lock,  with  forefinger  carelessly  toying  with 
the  trigger. ' '  The  red  man  and  the  white  passed  into  the 
shade  of  the  forest;    the  soldier  returned  alone;  Chief 


322     CHAPTERS  FROM  ILLINOIS  HISTORY 

Shavehead  was  never  seen  again.  He  had  paid  the  pen- 
alty of  his  crime  to  one  who  could,  with  some  fitness, 
exact  it.  Such  was  the  fate  of  a  chief  actor  in  that  dark 
scene. 

Many  others  of  the  Pottawattamie  tribe  joined  the  Brit- 
ish forces  in  the  field,  and  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames, 
October  5,  18 13,  they  were  confronted  again  by  Harrison 
and  his  riflemen,  who  then  avenged  the  slaughter  at  Chi- 
cago upon  some  of  its  perpetrators. 


PRINTED  BY  R.  R.  DONNELLEY 
AND  SONS  COMPANY  AT  THE 
LAKESIDE  PRESS,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 


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